... and that's what truly killed Faiz for me :lol

There's no need to feel bad about feeling bad. For me, reading how certain things don't work for you is just as engaging as watching you enjoy the parts you do. Besides, it's only natural you'd be broken up at the show tearing up your ship...

rip Murakami. I was pretty content with him as the 'main villain' of this show, manipulating things from behind his desk at the top of his large company building, though things never got a chance to become more personal between him and the heroes, closest being his squabbles with Takumi during his werewolf phase. I actually like the thought of Kiba taking over as the villain in this last stretch of the show, but I sadly agree that the way it happens isn't that great.

Also it's kind of funny that Time Vent was recently mentioned. That post where you just added links to all your previous episode discussions on that thread was way more effort than I would ever considered doing and that was like, iconic Die moment.

If I'm getting the picture you're painting of how Faiz worked for you, it's:

1. Auto Vajin
2. Yuuji's hair
3. Yuuji
4. Takumi
5. Nothing else

Yikes!

Ha ha, I'm glad that Time Vent post was fun. It was a dumb amount of work to construct that joke post!

Mostly, I just don't have a lot of interest in watching bad shows and talking about why they're bad. It can be fun once in a while, when there's a bum episode, but when something fundamentally loses sight of how best to tell a story, I just don't really feel like discussing it, past a certain point. Maybe the next couple episodes will even it out?

Murakami was a great villain, and I never even talked about one of my favorite villainous traits of his! That dude listened to villainous music exclusively, and that's great. Just, on his own time, relaxing in his office, he put on Now That's What I Call Villainy! 28 or whatever and enjoyed his afternoon. There's a thing that often gets brought up, that no one thinks of themselves as a villain, but I think Murakami maybe did? Not in a monstrous way, but in an aesthetic way. He deserved better than getting replaced!

Watch it at 2x speed then.... like I did. Though I don't know if talking about this part is allowed then with it being boring. Expressing dislike is more encouraged on place like this tbh, even embracing it (though this one is what I would call being an asshole about something you aren't into). And actually, for a certain part of another Rider series later, I hope you would react the same as the Yuji's shift here....

Some people thought about how Faiz has some interesting ideas, but not executed that well, and this is probably the one for yours. The idea is it being dramatically ironic (like Kaido below) that Yuji is, like you said, empathic beacon of humanity, wishing for a peace between humans and Orphnochs, actually becomes his antithesis. It's probably made off-screen because this is meant to be a plot twist. But I do was interested in seeing the Lucky Clover's interaction that the man they hated was their boss now (not to mention Murakami's death), and I was engaged in seeing how that would work out.... but gotta say they dropped the ball on this for me that they don't show it for this one, just the Lucky Clover confronting Team Faiz/Orphnoch again. I do think that the Murakami clone doesn't work that well for me either, as it's too much of a big shift (not a fan of character switching side but also shedding every of their previous characteristics without a trace) but I'm also thinking up on how should Yuji act.... (if they still decide to turn him into villain, if him turning into a villain is still related to his character and not just a forced plot twist). The Takumi/Yuji scene, the one good thing is that Takumi was still fully in character, practically screaming your (or the audiences?) wishes for Yuji to get back his previous characterization. I agree about your comment for Yuji's hair too :p

Kaido does actually consider Yuji a friend here to miss him and constantly looking for him. I wonder how did he react to Yuka's death though (he's mostly an ass towards her, but he does care about her deep down like saving her from Yoshio, his kohai). And even with his plan regarding Yuka being hunted by the police earlier, Kaido is the one broken up by Yuji turning into a being worse than he could ever think he is.

I mean, it makes more sense for Murakami to die laughing hysterically than Minami earlier, because as he said, he wants to facilitate the Orphnoch King, and he just advanced that plan more even with him dying. He's obviously happy that he's one step closer of completing his plan. Also never had a thought about this, but Hanagata, like Mari or Mihara said, was still the kind father figure, he's not evil like other Smart Brain members, he helped contributed kickstarting some of the events while also being a social father figure to most of the main cast, wanting to prepare them for the final battle. He assigned Yuji to be the new chief of Smart Brain, unaware of his personality change at the time.

You are something else to be only infuriated by this part of Faiz only, while others are likely to be infuriated by the majority of Faiz, with all the muscommunitations part, even dropping the show or just can't proceed through it anymore.

Well, I'm fairly confused of why you aren't into Keitaro too? I mean you disliked Faiz for it being grim, but Keitaro's someone made to counteract that, being one of the most genuinely good and the type I would expect to be an exception to you by being the optimistic ray hope of light.

Hey now, that's way too harsh! Jet Sliger, Chaco and Saeko's fashion sense are all extreme highlights for me


I guess for me it's because he felt part satire of that and part deconstruction. As if Inoue looked at the likes of Shinji and Godai from the past couple years and went "hey, you know those characters who believed in justice and had unyielding optimism? Well here's how they'd actually be like; they're alone in their beliefs in the world, they're idiots who can't use a Rider Belt, and their development is about that optimism being crushed and learning to accept that the realities of the world don't match up to their ideals". He's to your typical Kamen Rider protagonist what Madoka is to the Magical Girl genre. That's how it read to me, and every time he was on screen I imagined myself pleading Wizard's writer for forgiveness because Shunpei wasn't THAT bad. I dislike him because he felt like the exact antithesis to what you're describing.

Keitaro > Shunpei all day everyday. (No Shade Kurona, you're probably the nicest person that hates everything I love)

I actually like Yuuji's heel-turn. It's sad, no doubt, but there's still more to come that makes it interesting for me. I think there's enough there for the viewer to be able to read-in to his actions, though I will agree with Die that I think this kind of move works better in a book or comic where you can experience a character's inner turmoil more easily. (It was a cleaner turn than Daenerys in GoT season 8)

I think this is less a problem with Faiz and more a problem with Kamen Rider overall. Early Heisei especially has a tendancy, in my opinion, to front load their stories with mysteries and then have a back half scramble to answer all/most of the questions they've created in the first 20 or so episodes. I love-love-love Kamen Rider, but it doesn't always stick the landing.

I think Faiz does a better job than some, but I'll have more to say about that when, y'know, Die actually gets to the end.

Awww, that's one of the nicest compliments I can imagine! And a reputation I'd LOVE to cultivate :p

That's really the heart of it for me, though. I could 100% be onboard with a Yuuji who decides that his earlier behavior was naive, that Yuka died due to his belief in coexistence, to become radicalized through a mix of regret and rage. I could embrace that whole-heartedly.

What I got, though, was an unemotional dude who suddenly cared a lot about all of the shit that Murakami cared about, things that were never brought up in Yuuji's storyline before now. It'd be like if Takumi was gone for an episode, and when he came back he was a disengaged bully who longed for excitement he couldn't feel. A heel turn is more than just making a good character play a villain character's part!

I did really like the outdoors scene with Yuuji and Kaido! It was almost hard to reconcile with everything else (Yuuji seems genuinely happy to see Kaido, but is also willing to use him in the fight against the Orphnoch King), but Kaido more than sold his half of the scene. He's so to-the-bone relieved to see Yuuji. It was emotional, character-based storytelling, and it's the bare minimum of what I want to see.

I guess I'm grateful that so much of this series worked for me, then!

Yeah, it's a problem inherent to telling a season-long story. It's way bigger than a Kamen Rider problem, but it's pretty consistently a Kamen Rider problem. It's just really, really hard to figure out how much plot a season-long mystery/arc needs. Too little, and you're killing time until the next phase can start. Too much, and you're having to rush twists or cram in exposition. It's the hardest part of making these shows!

Like, I love Build, but even that show had a couple episodes where I was like Maybe You Are Trying To Tell Too Big A Story Here My Dude.

One reason to try and get into Super Sentai or Pretty Cure: they generally go for a lower scale myth arc and hose that don’t (Timeranger, Gekiranger, Go-Busters) are more controversial in Japan.

But, like, Wizard. Wizard is the main exhibit against the idea of the season-long arc, and the main exhibit for the idea of a season-long arc.

There's a middle section to Wizard that is so repetitive that it nearly broke me. But all of that repetition is purposeful, and sets up maybe my favorite season-long arc conclusion in the entire franchise. You could make the argument that the middle section's flabbiness and built-in frustration is unforgivable, but you could also argue that the cleanliness and excitement of the finale more than makes up for it.

It's... it's not cut and dry, is I guess what I'm getting at. I don't know that I'd be in favor of Kamen Rider dumping the season-long arc stuff, because when it's done right? Man. Real sweet, when it's done right.

W and Gaim are the shows, for me, they'd stayed good all the way through. They utilized Escalation, Ticking Clock, and Mysteries Revealed really well, and had satisfying endings. (I know Gaim has its issues, but I think they told a great story overall)

Having said that, some of my favorite Rider shows have pretty weak endings, I just try not to forget the journey even if the destination is kind of lame.

(Honestly, W does some stuff with Wakana that made me as disappointed as with Yuuji in Faiz.)

This is probably something more worth talking about when the whole series is done, just in case it course-corrects, but telling a story is like flying a plane. Take-off can be a quick jump into the sky, or a slow and steady rise. The middle, it can be calm and level or full of nail-biting loops. The end, you have to land the plane. The smoothest flight that ends in a fireball would probably not be considered a success, you know?

To be fair, there are levels of botching the landing that are more forgivable (or forgettable) than others. It's definitely up to the individual passenger (could this analogy be more tortured) to decide what's a minor bump and what's something that needs litigation.

Die, don't become a pilot.

All I can say right now is that I personally found Yuuji's turn to the dark side entirely believable, and thought the concept was the most logical possible direction for the story to take his character at this point in the series. It felt built up well enough, and it posed a lot of interesting questions that, by and large, I do think the show ends up answering in a satisfactory manner.

The execution, I can't decide if I agree or not there. The Murakami Jr. shtick is jarring for sure, but part of me wants to say that's probably just exactly what Yuuji would act like if he lost his smile. Still well-mannered and polite, but less empathetic and understanding. There are moments where his old self seems to poke through, but, at least broadly, I concur that the show would've been better served by trading in the suspense of his disappearance after Yuka's death for directly showing us more detail on how exactly he came to the conclusions he's arrived at.

I hope you feel a little better by the end, Die! But don't feel too bad about feeling bad, either. The previous 40+ episodes of regular glowing praise were far more than any Faiz fan could hope for. I think you've earned the right to some negativity.

I gotta stick up for Keitarou here, because this was the image of him I had for the longest time, too, but, and Die has called tons of attention to this throughout, the show itself isn't making fun of him anywhere near the same way the characters in it do. I realized rewatching the series that his optimism, kindheartedness, and upstanding moral behavior are genuinely portrayed as a positive force for most of the people around him, and honestly, I think Takumi looks up to him more than he does to Yuuji, and that's saying a lot.

I don't buy the argument that Inoue would have wanted to make fun of those kinds of characters in a malicious way. The guy wrote Yuusuke and Shinji, and while it's true that in the latter's case he loved to emphasize his more goofball traits, what's even more relevant is that Inoue wrote Shouichi, who was basically Keitarou in reverse. A protagonist whose unshakable positive outlook is constantly rewarded, to the point jokes are made at the expense of characters like Hikawa for not comprehending why he's so "lucky". Heck, I might even argue Shouichi in Inoue's hands was more of an unyielding optimist than Yuusuke was in Arakawa's. He had a real genuine purity to him that Agito took very seriously, and despite the jokes at his expense, I think Keitarou does inherit a bit of that.

Also I'm really looking forward to Die's thread for Kiva.

You say that as if I'll be present!



But yeah, I do get that interpretation of Keitarou, and I do sort of see it but... it doesn't work for me in the slightest. Everything about it feels weak and half-hearted and it's not a trait of this guy's writing that'll be vanishing any time soon.

It's really the execution I have a problem with. I think I mentioned a few posts back that, making Yuuji the final boss, it's not necessarily a problem. In a lot of ways, it's the most appropriate end-boss the series can have. Having Yuuji give up on coexistence and pushing Takumi into a place where he now feels that ideal more than anyone else on the show, making him have to fight for Yuuji's dream when Yuuji won't even fight for it anymore? Forcing Takumi to (in essence) become the new Yuuji, to pick up the banner that Yuuji dropped? I like that story a lot!

But what's on the show lacks the specificity that would carry the Yuuji half of the story. The Takumi stuff is mostly there, but he's not playing against Yuuji anymore. It's dry and emotionless when (to me) it needs to be raw and painful.

Like, I'm not mad at what the show is saying, I'm mad at how it's phrasing it.

I hope so, too! Thanks! I think it was such an abrupt change in direction that I... I didn't handle it super well. Kind-of threw a little tantrum? I'll try to be a little less conclusive on things, try to be a little bit more tentative. There's still story left to be told, and maybe it'll all make me feel differently in a couple more chapters. Show ain't over yet!

Yeah, I also think that the most inspirational guy to Takumi is Keitarou. Takumi might be more willing to acknowledge his admiration of Kiba more than Keitarou since Kiba has more macho qualities but Takumi secretly looks up to Keitarou the most as a guy who lives for others' happiness. He doesn't have much direction like Kiba but that honesty and kindness is the foundation of what makes a true hero. Kiba has heroic ideals but lacks the resolution to follow them. He inspires a lot of people, including Takumi, to live better lives but he couldn't live that way. Keitarou never loses sight of what's important though. The only reason he's not the hero is due to his lack of compatibility so instead he's a mentor to Takumi, giving him the motivation to be Faiz and protect dreams. He even had two arcs dedicated to overcoming his fear and prejudice of Orphenochs. It's sad that Kiba lost his way but Takumi knows that Keitarou won't change and doesn't need to. He's the heart of Team Faiz, in a way that surpasses Kiba as the heart of Team Orphenoch. Keitarou is an example of what he believes in by showing others how to be better, instead of just preaching.

So, after reading these impassioned defenses of Keitaro (yay!) while still thinking of Takkiba of where it's at, here's how I think about where Keitaro and Yuuji figure into Takumi's emotional support system.

Yuuji is like your dad's new girlfriend who you see on the weekends. She's nice and fun and she's trying really hard to connect with you, but she's got her own life and you don't see her that often. She gets built up a little in your mind as meaning more than she really does because your time together is briefer, more fun.

Keitaro is the mom that you spend the rest of the week with. You maybe take her for granted, but she is there for you every minute of every day. She has to be stern sometimes, and you're both around each other when you're not at your best, but her dedication is unwavering.

Yuuji can fix Takumi when parts fall off, but Keitaro's the one who built Takumi.

So Keitarou is Takumi's mother, Kusaka is the father and Kiba is Kusaka's new wife? This family analogy keeps getting weirder!

It's a great analogy though. Keitarou put the Kamen Rider in Kamen Rider Faiz. The hero behind the hero.

look i'm just saying i'd watch that show

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 48

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz48a.png

--1--

So, a lot of the things that bugged me last episode continued to bug me in this episode. (Yuuji's attitude lacks any trace of the character I've invested in for the past 40-odd episodes, to the degree that he might as well just be Orphan Daddy's biological son, a brand-new character.) Plus, there're a couple new things to dislike. (I can't believe that they're already done with Orphan Daddy's story; I'm really surprised they'd put so much dramatic weight on Kusaka saving Mari.)

But! But.

Let me spend some time talking about the things I did like. I'd rather do that. If you're looking to know how much what I'm going to talk about was a part of the experience of watching this episode, I'd say maybe 25%. Three-quarters was stuff I didn't much care for (to varying levels of disinterest), to one-quarter stuff I enjoyed.

I'd just... I'd rather talk about that good stuff rather than continue to harp on the series' failings.

--2--

Like, man, did not expect this arc to do so much with Kaido! I was just saying earlier today that I like the idea of someone following through on the ideals that Yuuji's forsaken, but I was not figuring on that someone being Kaido!

It makes a ton of sense, though, and the scene between them was the best one in the episode. It's Kaido calling out how callous Yuuji's become, while admitting that the old Yuuji was maybe his idol. I like that, that Kaido always envied Yuuji's resolve, his steadfast belief in the ability for Orphnochs to overcome their cruelty and rage. It's a nice little coda to Old Yuuji, that he was right. That he could reach someone else and teach them to care for others. It adds some heartbreaking regret to the Yuuji stuff by showing how worse things are for everyone, now that Old Yuuji is gone.

Having it be the most selfish character who decides to live by Yuuji's code, it's by far the smartest choice this story offered.

--3--

There's another thing they do that I thought was interesting, even if it's not something I think has a ton of juice in it. Basically, what if Kusaka has been right all along?

The unconvincing speed at which Yuuji fell makes this one a tough pill to swallow, but maybe Kusaka was right to think that all Orphnoch will turn on humanity? It's almost impossible at this stage in the series to see Takumi and Kaido as anything but the exceptions that prove the rule. They're the Good Orphnochs, because when you just say Orphnoch you're implying evil. You have to modify it for the two of them.

This episode at least considers that idea, with Orphan Daddy saying that Orphnochs all deserve to die and that stopping the Orphnoch King is a sacrifice that'll save humanity. (Which, I'm trying to stay positive, but what in the hell was Orphan Daddy thinking, bringing Dark Yuuji into this scheme at this point?! The whole scheme depends on Yuuji destroying the Orphnoch King to save humanity, dooming all Orphnochs to an ashy demise. Yuuji, who just went through a massive emotional event that led to him loudly turning his back on humanity. Just... why would Orphan Daddy tell Yuuji that he's doing this all for humanity?! Yuuji had just murdered the guy who was trying to save humanity right in front of Orphan Daddy! He's turned his back on his friends because they want to protect humanity! WHAT IN THE HELL WAS ORPHAN DADDY THINKING, BRINGING DARK YUUJI INTO THIS SCHEME AT THIS POINT?!)

It's a fun concept to play around with, even if I'd be shocked if that's where the series landed on Should Orphnochs Exist. It's neat to think that, much like the Sawada story, maybe everyone's been projecting a humanity that doesn't exist, and that Orphnochs who won't kill humans are denying their nature. I don't think that's what the show's been saying, but it's a fun thing to entertain for a minute.

--4--

Solid episode for Kusaka, maybe? Not sure.

There's a thing I liked in it. I like that while you could view his actions as heroic, I don't know that Kusaka got any more heroic in this episode. He's always hated Orphnochs and wanted to protect Mari, and that's what he died doing. I respect that the show never reformed him, or had his sacrifice be more than a consequence of his rage and selfishness. It's a neat way to take objectively heroic acts (trying to save Mari, trying to stop a villain, dying in the process) and make them so subjective that Kusaka stays irredeemable. Tricky, but I think the show landed it.

Plus, being able to see Mari as he died without her seeing him? Perfect metaphor for Kusaka and Mari's storyline, and a poetic end to my least favorite pairing on the show.

--5--

I still mostly didn't like this episode. It wasn't as disappointing as the last one (hopefully nothing else in Kamen Rider ever is), but I think that was more down to me being prepared this time.

But, y'know, there's still stuff around the edges to enjoy. I like “troop builder” Rider types, so the Riot Troopers (thank you TV-Nihon splash screen) are right up my alley. (I like how a show with Rider troops has to make them cool enough to be a suit, but lame enough to not be a Name suit. It's mostly color choices, or the lack of a cool Driver.) Takumi's side of his phone call with Yuuji was great. It's half of a really great scene. There's a neat lighting effect the DP uses to get in and out of Mari's flashback. I like that Keitaro is playing soccer with Teruo.

It's like, little things.

I didn't mention it last time (too busy being a baby), but Soeno had a little speech that feels more and more relevant to my experience with these final Faiz episodes. He's talking to Sawamura, who feels terrified by whatever is to come. Soeno, though, he's easy-going about it. Sawamura, in disbelief, wants to know why Soeno isn't freaking out. Soeno tells him that the world is a chaotic place. You never know what tomorrow's going to bring, and most of it you can't do anything about. If you're lucky, you can protect a little bit of happiness. Just a little bit. And that can be enough, if you let it be. A little bit of happiness is all we can ask for sometimes, and we need to be okay with that.

He also recommends alcohol, which feels equally wise right now.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz48b.png
(I also really enjoyed this sign. I imagine Mad Science Division was considered too on-the-nose.)

so yeah you finally got to witness one of the more cathartic moments in the entire series Kusaka getting his neck snapped by Kiba.
http://i.imgur.com/1JDzI7n.gifv (can't seem to get the gif to properly appear)
Also a fun callback to this is that Takumi did tell Kusaka to "Be careful to not get kicked by a horse and die", and well it wasn't a kick he was killed by the Hose Orphnoch.

I think one of the things that actually works with Orphen Daddy is that unlike some other "chessmaster" shadowy figures he doesn't have all the cards in his hand and he's going off of old information and his own misconceptions such as being completely in the dark about Kiba abandoning his own ideals.

And this is what I mean by the Saeko killing Yuka option being more tragic that his abandoning of his ideals, murder spree of the cops, kidnapping Mai, Killing Kusaka to bet the Kaixa gear, and deciding to kill off all of humanity due to him blaming the wrong people for her death utterly unaware that he's now aligned with her true killer.

Also from my recent watch through of Faiz with my friend who's utterly new to Rider he was calling that Kusaka was going to die about half way through the show due to them abruptly dropping the whole "everyone who uses Kaixa dies" thing and just disliking the character in a Fate series Gilgamesh kind of way, leading me to "accidentally" let slip that Kaixa survives to the end of the show unfortunately letting me pull one over by always saying Kaixa and never once Kusaka leading to his actual shock when he turned into ash at the end of the episode.

Ha ha, oh yeah! Takumi put it out into the universe!

I think that was something I mentioned before as liking thematically, that the older generation is fighting old battles, relitigating old conflicts. Having Orphan Daddy be a dude that just does not understand the terrain, it's fitting, thematically.

It's just... it's not that dramatic? He mostly just shows up, overturns the apple cart, and then dies. He's definitely more plot device than character.

Sure, but, if that's the case, it doesn't seem like the show is doing a lot with it? Kageyama doesn't even share a line of dialogue with Yuuji in this one.

Oh, fantastic swerve! Nicely done!

More of a powder by the end, really.

First of all, I'd like to give a big shout out to the massive fight scene between the Riders, Lucky Clover, and the Riotroopers that ends off-screen during the opening credits. You're doing the lord's work, son.

So, aside from the iconic death of Kusaka, this episode has one of my favorite plot turns in Faiz: the idea that the Orphenochs are an unstable evolution who will eventually be burned out by their own powers. This is what Murakami found out that made him freak out over the course of the last few episodes. I don't know what it is about this, but it's one of my favorite things about the Orphenochs, that they're an evolutionary dead end whose entire goal is based off of a tragic misunderstanding of their own nature.

The other thing I want to comment on now that we've gotten to that point is the rules that each belt uses and how Kusaka was able to wear all three. The Delta belt was the original prototype and one of its features is that anyone can use it. I'm not sure if this is what the show intended, but I feel like that was considered a design flaw. It's like someone at Smart Brain realized "hey, the clasps we use on this thing are really crappy and it just keeps falling off. We'd be in a lot of trouble if it fell off during a fight and ended up in the hands of, I don't know, some random guy on a motorcycle." The thing that occurred to me recently is that Faiz and Kaixa comes across like there were two different designers who tackled how to solve that problem. The Faiz belt won't allow anyone with less than x% Orphenoch DNA to use it while Kaixa just straight up kills undesired users. It really does feel like two different approaches to fixing Delta's compatibility issue.

It's an interesting development! I think it adds a level of futility to the Team Orphnoch plots in retrospect, that... not sure if I love? It'll be interesting to see how Yuuji deals with it, for sure.

I guess it's not a beat I'm overly invested in because I don't feel like we'll get to see a lot how it matters to the characters. If this bombshell had been dropped in the 30s, I'd be excited to see how it would alter relationships, frustrate ideals, you name it. Here, we're finding out with two episodes left, only Yuuji knows, and he's already evil.

It... are they squandering what could be a huge part of the narrative?

INTERIOR - SMART BRAIN PECULIAR MEDICAL LABORATORY

Faiz Project Lead: Hey.

Kaixa Project Lead: Hey.

FPL: So, how's your belt doing?

KPL: Oh, we're bringing down the mortality rate. Well, I guess technically it's still 100%, but the last subject survived almost eleven seconds after removing it, so, progress! We're into double-digits now! Your belt?

FPL: Uh... you know, no deaths? Can't, uh... I mean, no one can use it yet, but it's not killing anyone.

KPL: Tha--

Delta Project Lead: ONE OF THE LAB MONKEYS SNEEZED AND IT SOUNDED LIKE HENSHIN AND NOW HE'S A KAMEN RIDER AND SEVERAL TECHNICIANS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY A MANEUVER THAT WE CALLED LUCIFER'S HAMMER AND IT LOOKS SO COOL BUT EVERYONE SHOULD LEAVE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY oh wait, he brushed against a doorknob and the belt came off. Never mind! We're all good!

Best thing about the Riotroopers? A game makes it so the official translation is “Lion Troopers”. Never change, Climax Scramble.


Anyway HECK YEAH KUSAKA IS DEAD LET’S PARTY WOOOOO

Considering how Hanagata attributes "kindness" to Kusaka, he's seriously out of touch with his grown-up adopted kids. If he can't even understand them, he sure as hell can't understand a complete stranger like Kiba. Now Kiba is doing the exact opposite of what he wants by aligning his goal with Murakami to protect and nourish the King.

Finally, I can go in to more detail on that thing I inadvertently mentioned way earlier that I hope you didn't examine too closely.

The Unstable Mutation of Orphenochs

It's like an inversion of that major plot twist from inFamous 2. Socially, it's proven that humans and Orphenochs can co-exist. Biologically, there's a problem, one that not even the Orphenochs fully understand. Their bodies are in a constant state of decay at a rate which is increased by prolonged use of their monster forms and Gears, which use their life as a power source. Guys like Kaido who seldom use them will probably be fine and still get to enjoy a long life as a human. Mihara's fine cause Delta's broken for humans. But Kusaka's artificial compatibility finally ran out and it's only a matter of time before Takumi, who also henshined many times, starts to feel the effects.

The King can complete their mutation but his awakening would mean the end of humanity. If the King is destroyed, future generations of Orphenoch would continue to decay at an unsustainable rate until eventually the gene goes extinct, ending their species instead. Both sides are locked in to a fight to the death and Kusaka was right about something, Takumi needs to choose a side cause a genocide is happening either way.

There's something I find very Promethean about the conflict. Orphenochs have both the fire of Zeus and the power of animals, making them anatomically superior to other organisms except for their decay. Maybe it's another curse from Pandora's Box (mythological, not Martian) to show that humans aren't supposed to get that close to perfection. The good Orphenochs are those who defy their nature and hold on to the inherent goodness in humanity, even if it means giving up on their life. It's fascinating to think about this symbolism and the philosophical question: Why are humans so special?

The title of this episode is called "Masato, Dying a Glorious Death" which I think is pretty apt. He wanted Mari for himself but he fought to protect her even at the cost of his own life. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose by going to save her which contradicts everything we know about him. He had it coming and it doesn't redeem all of his sins but I respect that in the end, he died like a hero and that's how his allies will remember him. We'll remember him as the a**hole he really was but Kusaka's Last Stand is why I cannot acknowledge him as anything worse than an extreme antihero and his death, however deserved, should be avenged.

Yeah, actually Kaido was heartbroken of Yuji's heel-turn here. And probably, after all being a wild-card, Kaido's honest to himself for once here, and it takes him seeing an act much worse than any has been done by Kaido (including turning others except himself to police), which is Yuji actually becoming his antithesis. An analysis of how he got here. And Kaido's revenge of smacking back Yuji at his office.

Yeah, Hanagata was entirely unaware of Yuji's personality change when he assigned him as the new head of Smart Brain. Also been explained by Sh Ranger, that about Orphnoch can't coexist isn't about their morality, but about how Orphnoch is actually a death sentence to humanity. Having Orphnoch King awakened will be the end of the humanity and a new age for Orphnochs which will just make the species on Earth go extinct more quickly. All because Orphnoch, while an evolution for humanity, their lifespan is much shorter, they turn into dust much more quickly. Hanagata, like MaRina and Mihara said, are still the same kind father he was, and he wants to preserve the life on Earth, by making a sacrifice for Orphnoch King. I probably was just saying this so you aren't convinced that Kusaka has been right all along (and even if he does, it's not about his prejudiced view of them, but about their biological system, Right For The Wrong Reasons), that this episode is meant to be a catharsis factor to see Kusaka finally dies.

Very much agree that it's the best choice that he's never reformed. It's a must. If you (and I sometimes) don't want a character that is inherently anti-heroic turning into smiling sunshine at the end, Kusaka is an even more of a requirement of that. Kusaka's more than just that, he's closer to a villain who just happens to be fighting the threat the heroes are also fighting, and an example of Humans being the Real Monsters, albeit not as horrible as Minami. It's a total karmic death for him. Throughout most of the show, he'd been sabotaging the potential friendship of Takumi and Yuji, and subsequently, any chance of a united front against Smart Brain, just for his own ends, also torturing both about their supposed inherent inhumanity. He's murdered by Yuji, who had finally snapped at this point and joined Smart Brain, all of which is largely his fault. And Yuji does the deed with Kusaka's own Kaixa Gear, which Yuji had recently taken from him. Moreover, he dies alone, the others nearby looking for him, missing him by a few meters, and him unable to get their attention as he fades away like the wretch he was in life. And for Mari never seeing Kusaka again, you'll even feel more of the karmic end for Kusaka in the next episodes.

Riotroopers are the fodder Riders Faiz have. It's so difficult for the one that has to fight both Delta and Snake Orphnoch, where even 1 of them is too much for any Riotroopers. Even Kaido as Riotroopers gets smacked away by human Yuji! Also, probably this is one of the stuff you didn't enjoy, but don't you realize that in this episode they finally mentioned it... with that kid being the Orphnoch King? It should be impactful to the Team Faiz (and possibly Kaido for now?) to see one of their latest member turned out to be...

Love for only one person (like Mari for Kusaka) isn't meant to be rooted or be glorified as a good thing (though this episode does play it up like that somewhat). Love for someone can be even the main motivation of doing evil things, like for example in other series, White Wizard in Wizard, or in other media, Gendo Ikari in Evangelion. Also good number of Kusaka's cruelty are based by the very qualities that you consider redeeming of him. Because Kusaka is an example of Yandere. Yanderes are people who suffer from personality disorder and can easily become violent and extremely dangerous where in this case, being motivated by their obsessive love to someone whom they have a crush with. He/she would go to extreme lengths to rid of anyone who potentially about to take away and/or harm his/her crush, which includes murdering their rival. Which is one of what Kusaka's character is about, he reacts with extreme violence if he thinks you are planning to do anything to her, or be next to be. He replaces the "cute, delicate, and sweet" facade with one that is strong, supremely competent and handsome, and by that his allies will remember him as hero, because of him being charismatic manipulative bastard and he's successful that they don't know how much of a bastard he was at his death.

But, like, even in the context of scenes that Yuuji and Orphan Daddy have shared, there's zero reason to think Yuuji's going to be okay with sacrificing Orphnochs for humanity. Yuuji (I'm assuming) agreed to work with Orphan Daddy because he'd given up on humanity. He says exactly that, loudly, often.

To have Orphan Daddy go Okay But Instead What If We Let Our Entire Species Die Out So That Humanity Could Thrive... there's not getting someone's deeper motivations, and there's asking someone to do the opposite of their stated goal.

It... it would be like recruiting Keitaro to help you clean clothes, and then midway through telling him that he's actually destroying clothes and assuming he'll be okay with that.

It is an astonishingly bad plan!

Neat thoughts! There's some beauty to the idea that the more Orphnochs embrace their identities, the faster they vanish. The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long, you know?

I just wish, as an idea, it had been given more room to be explored. How would that knowledge have changed Sawada's view of his own humanity, or Yuka's dream?

I guess I don't see it as that heroic? Accidentally, sure, but Kusaka Fights For Mari is one of his core principles. I think Yuuji knew it was the most reliable button to push to draw Kusaka out. He'll risk death for her, but I think that says more about his bottomless obsession than it does affirm his ability to be a hero.

But he was there for some of it? If Orphan Daddy recruited this kid to save all Orphnochs, the kid agrees, and then the plan was that he thinks the kid is lying about wanting to be rid of humanity... I mean, what? Yuuji murdered Minami (who was trying to destroy Orphnochs so that humanity could survive!) right in front of Orphan Daddy, and then continuously told everyone around him that humanity was a waste of time. Where in there was Orphan Daddy inferring a Just Kidding?

I didn't think this was supposed to be a surprise? It seemed heavily indicated by this point.

Speaking of Hanagata, just remembered exactly a decade prior to this show Hanagata's actor Koji Naka was a mentor in this show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4-RIq1lRCw

Why would he think otherwise of Yuji killing someone as rotten as Minami? He lets him doing so, killing someone who may have a "saving humanity from Orphnoch" front, but in reality is just a supremacist. He's even detrimental to humanity as well, like despising those who are pro-Orphnoch (an innocent detective to spy on an Orphnoch, and orders his death when the man began sympathizing with Orphnochs). Hanagata tries to do what's best for humanity, Minami is not the choice, he's just driven by racism, despises the Orphnochs simply for not being human and think they deserved to be experimented just because of that. He wants for someone who actually cares for them (Yuji before this event, which Hanagata thinks he still is), instead of just a xenophobic madman.

Just that you think before the Orphnoch King machinations are purely isolated from Team Faiz who just spends time with Teruo.

Orphan Daddy... he seems like a very Ends Justify The Means guy, as stated in a song I heard somewhere. I don't see him feeling a deep anger towards Minami's philosophy. Orphan Daddy, to date:

-experimented on all of his children
-gave them belts that made them Orphnoch targets
-hid in a basement as they were all dying horribly
-entrusted a total stranger with the survival or extinction of a species
-wore that bandana for decades

He doesn't strike me as someone who has a deep understanding of morality, you know? Seems okay with a crazy amount of sacrifice.

But, the Minami thing aside, Yuuji isn't making a secret of the fact that he doesn't care about humanity!

I mean, it had been affecting them before (there were fights to protect Teruo), it's just that none of Team Faiz (Takumi, Mari, Keitaro) know that Teruo is the Orphnoch King. Why the Orphnochs are after him is left a mystery to them, but they're still having to fight. Kusaka finds out, but it's almost completely irrelevant to his story here.

Thanks for linking the article. It was a good read! I think I should give Kaido some more credit. I recommend to Die once he finishes the show.

Kusaka is a yandere for sure and I'm not trying to make out like this one heroic deed makes him a hero. He's not that. I just think that going in to battle to save Mari, knowing that he's going to die, which means not getting to win Mari as a prize, was a good way to make him, not redeemed, but sympathetic and pitiable. It's fitting that he was killed by not just Kaixa Gear but also Kaixa as Kiba takes his place and at that point, Kusaka was still more justified in his actions than Kiba who betrayed his own ideals and became exactly what Kusaka warned him about. Kiba is an antivillain here but it wasn't necessary for him to kill Kusaka considering he was already dying. Yuka's death has made him cold and ruthless.

Impressive how you paraphrased the quote "half as long, twice as bright" since it actually gets mentioned in inFamous 2 which I just compared to the show!

Yuka would probably side with the humans since she wouldn't want Keitarou to die for her to live. Also, Kaido is pro-human so she would follow his lead. Sawada was already aware of his own decay due to being a failed experiment so it might not change his mind too much knowing that the whole species would be doomed to that same fate without the King. It's not like he has any Orphenoch friends that he's close with.

KAMEN RIDER 555 EPISODE 49

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz49a.png

--1--

Holy shit, I laughed a lot during this episode.

Probably... I don't feel like that was the intention? There's a very somber tone to what's going on, as Team Faiz grieves for the murdered Kusaka and Lucky Clover frets over their newly-discovered impending demises. There's a very Last Night On Earth feeling to this one, as life and death feel separated by hard choices and blind luck.

A lot of funny stuff in it, though. Really cracked me up.

--2--

Like, first scene, first scene, it's Takumi and Mihara racing along the shore to find Kusaka before it's too late. And it's completely too late, he's dissolved into ash... except for his beloved photo of Mari, which is still in one piece. Literally everything on his body turned to ash: his clothes, his wallet, his keys, his train pass, all of it. All of it but this one photo. And, like, I get it. The heroes need some visual signifier that the pile of ash is Kusaka. Plus, it's striving for poignancy, that his beloved Mari was left behind, saved by his actions. But the thought of this one photo being developed on, like, Anti Turn To Ash paper... hysterical. I laughed for a little bit.

And then the next shot is Kaido running up, asking what the deal is. The camera pulls out to catch Mihara giving a big ol' KUSAKAAAAA while Takumi dwells on the ash that covers his fist... and Kaido's just standing there, probably feeling super awkward. I couldn't stop thinking about it. Like, Kusaka was the dude who was just spraying him down with a hose and telling him he'd probably be killed soon. Should he... what is he supposed to say here? "I'm sorry your friend died, but not that sorry because he seemed like a real asshole?”

Which... sort-of my feeling for half the episode? There's a lot of shirt-rending over Kusaka's demise, and it's something that I truly believe some of the characters feel (Mihara probably thought of Kusaka as a pushy older brother; Mari seems to have treated getting slapped in the face as a minor character defect; Keitaro has a very big heart; Rina is a terrible actor) while I was still feeling like it's all overstated.

I'm not saying that the characters are playing it wrong (well, Rina), or that they're making Kusaka out to be more than he was. To the Ryusei kids, he was family. To Keitaro, he was a champion of justice. (Keitaro doesn't watch the same Faiz as the rest of us.) To Takumi, he was a flawed human being who died at the hands of an Orphnoch, an Orphnoch just like him. There's a lot of emotions, and they're all valid.

It's just... Kusaka. It's a lot of time spent mourning someone who was awful. If it'd been, like, Kaido, sure. (Favorite scene in the episode was Takumi and Kaido hanging out and talking about heroic ideals. Amazing chemistry. The two of them as the main two Riders? Jesus! If only! Missed opportunity!) Kaido's great, and I'd feel it in my soul if anything happened to that guy. But Kusaka was awful, so time spent watching people ache for his absence, while totally justified... it's like being at a coworker's uncle's funeral. You want to support someone you know who's going through a tough time, but you don't really feel anything for the person who passed away. I felt like I was letting Team Faiz grieve without ever feeling the need to do so myself.

(Also, so, Mihara was just never going to tell Mari that Kusaka died? Her sibling? Was he just going to tell her that Kusaka went to live on a farm somewhere?)

--3--

The other half of this episode was about how Lucky Clover was dealing with the Ticking Clock of their newfound mortality, and it went pretty much how you'd expect: Kitazaki treating it like a joke, Houjou feeling stark terror, and Kageyama being the best.

I mean, don't tell Houjou, but... Kageyama's my favorite? There's such specific authority to her performance. It's self-confidence, sure, but it's the way she'll share the spotlight to let others feel in control, and she'll use that to manipulate them. She leads from the back. Her outfit at Lucky Clover is a bartender, a servant. But without that servant no one would drink, no one would be able to enjoy themselves. She has control over their happiness, their safety. She comes across as an employee, but she's the one guiding the group.

Plus, just always making smart choices in her performance. She does so much with a look, or a stance. When the camera pans down to catch her in the President's chair, overhearing that they're all going to die, she sells Maybe YOU Are with a two-second creased brow. Because she's not going to roll over. She's going to find a way to survive, even if it kills the rest of Lucky Clover.

And, ha ha, it for sure kills Kitazaki! The lead-up to his death scene, not super memorable to me. His reaction to finding out he might die was to believe in his invincibility, and that ended up getting him killed by two-thirds of Lucky Clover, as well as Delta and Faiz. It's a little quick to take out someone who was such a huge threat, but it still took four people. He wasn't a slouch!

His death, though, that was one more thing in this episode that cracked me up. He gets petrified by the Orphnoch King... who then proceeds to break off his face and eat it. It's immensely disturbing to Houjou, who loses his goddamn mind again, but I was laughing so hard. Just that visual of the Orphnoch King looking at Kitazaki for a moment and then starting with the face... it's like a kid at Easter, eating a chocolate bunny from the head down. Just... I found it way more funny than scary. I don't know why, but I did.

--4--

Speaking of things to which I can't really explain why I respond the way I do, let's talk about the Orphnoch King and the Ticking Clock and all the big plot stuff that's tying our cast into knots.

I don't love it? The main reason, beyond not feeling like one to two episodes is enough space to explore it, is that it drags a series that was about more nuanced ideas than Survival down to, like, Fight Or Die. (Was that this show? I feel like it was.) It's more simplistic than I'd hope this series would be. There were moral conundrums that powered some really insightful writing, and now it's Who Should Be Sacrificed. It... I don't find that as compelling a metaphor for tolerance and acceptance?

There are some fun angles to it, and the Lucky Clover stuff was a prime example. They aren't just a villain group trying to take over the world or kill the heroes, they are living beings asserting their right to exist. They don't want to die, and they're going to fight to stay alive. And these are the villains! It's a refreshing ambiguity that this series always managed, and it's nice to see it have a part in the finale.

The other big part that ends up working is that, with Kaido and Takumi, we've got heroic Orphnochs who have to decide what their lives are worth, and what they owe to humanity.

Takumi's at low ebb here, convinced (yet again!) that Orphnochs are irredeemable and deserve to be destroyed, him included. But the only way to do that is to kill a child, and that's... I want to say it's a non-starter for Takumi, but it's definitely Yuuji who stops him from punching a small boy in the face, sooooo, yeah.

It's nice to see both Takumi and Kaido agreed that Orphnochs don't deserve to exist at the cost of every human life. (Kaido's version of this pledge doesn't feel totally thought through, but, y'know, Kaido.) They're ready to give up their lives to help strangers, and that's a huge thing for two people who were the most selfish characters when the show started. There's a weight to that decision that makes this whole Orphnoch King story, and the sudden reveal that Orphnochs are doomed without him, almost work.

But I'm still not really feeling it. It reduces the show's themes down to Life Or Death, and I thought this show was so much smarter than that. It soared when it aimed small, kept its focus tight. All Humans Die or All Orphnochs Die, it ceases to feel like it's about these characters. It doesn't feel like an argument between Yuuji and Takumi, it feels like two concepts being thrown out for debate. It doesn't feel dramatic, it feels calculated, a writer who's lost sight of his characters in favor of some big allegory he wants to share.

--5--

So we've got one more episode to go. Yuuji vs Takumi, probably for the last time. I wish I cared more about why they were fighting. I'm sure it'll be a good fight. I still care a lot about these characters. (Not Yuuji, obviously, but the rest of the cast.) But, man, they are ending the series on a conflict that I don't buy, that feels thematically thin, and that's kind-of a drag. Not exactly raring to see this one wrap up!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/faiz/faiz49b.png

Me who's only been reading like 1/16 of this thread at most: Wait I thought you liked Yuuji, when did he fall off the horse?

A couple days ago!

(Also, "fall off the horse", terrible, terrible.)

Well, I'm glad you like Lobstender as much as I do, at least there's that.

Kageyama is probably my favorite villain on the show. She's more consistently present and threatening than pretty much anyone else. Murakami had his moments but he often felt disconnected from the heroes' stories, Kitazaki was AWOL most of the time, Takuma got neutered badly around the time Delta showed up, and the Orphenoch King is more of a concept than a character (even in human form - when was the last time Teruo actually had dialogue?). Kageyama is just great, though. Her actress was really good at saying a lot through her facial experessions, too. It's such a pity that I can't find out anything about the actress; I'd love to know what else she's done.

I'll say this: Faiz's ending is definitely an aspect of the show that people have things to say about. I'm really curious to see what you think.

I feel like I'm always rooting for underdog actors, the ones who get the least-flashy roles in a team.

For Team Faiz, I really like what Keitaro does. It's a nothing part (save a couple Yuka episodes), mostly just someone who can ask questions and shout Takumi Look Out For The Monster or whatever his catchphrase is. (I haven't watched Faiz yet. I hear it's pretty good!) But the actor finds a very charming sincerity in the character, a warmth that never feels cloying. It finds the weird angles on a joke character, illuminating what's most relatable.

For Team Orphnoch, I got real big feelings about Yuka's character. There's an additional level to the character that I'm maybe just projecting (almost definitely), but the fact that the character and the performance can both support additional readings... that shit's hard to do! It doesn't happen by accident!

For Lucky Clover, it's definitely Kageyama. Kitazaki is the unpredictable badass, Sawada was the mysterious badass, Houjou is Houjou (where the hell was that speech, Inoue), Murakami was the boss, but Kageyama always made those scenes work. Always. By turns femme fatale, den mother, and absolute viper, Kageyama did so much with so little. Massively elevated her material.

I'm glad she's got other fans!

I’ve just realised that throughout this show, there have been 5 users for the Faiz Gear. Namely because it was in this video https://youtu.be/wP0EUxLJjcE

I was viewing it because of how interesting it was (someone who normally does videos on Mirai Sentai Timeranger [and to a lesser extent, Power Rangers Time Force] doing a video on Kamen Rider Faiz?)