Don't worry, I don't think anyone in the fanbase takes Garren seriously for at least the first half of the series.

Ooh, ooh! This line is actually even better than it looks from those subs.

His exact line in Japanese is 俺は止めを迷ったりしないけどいいよね？ which directly translated is more like "I won't hesitate to kill you, but that's fine, right?" Like he's so dedicated to being a smarmy little s***, he just has to work in making fun of Ren not being able to go through with murder every time they talk, even though that's the only reason he's still around and able to talk smack. Wonderful characterization as always.

"Hey, hey, get a load of this loser! Had me totally defeated and wouldn't even stab me to death! Can you believe this guy? What an idiot."

There's a great thing I saw, a video of Shotaro and Philip doing a reunion photoshoot a year or so ago. There's a bit where they mess around with the Double Driver, and Suda still knows how to operate Fang Memory! It was adorable.

Noted!

I wish the whole episode had just been Shibaura trying to provoke Ren. It was endlessly entertaining. Shibaura is maybe my favorite character on Ryuki. I wish he knew about Eri so he could be, like, "Are we going to fight, or are you just going to cry about your comatose girlfriend, Mr. I Won't Kill To Save My Comatose Girlfriend Becuase I'm A Big Baby Who Has A Comatose Girlfriend" and then Shibaura stares Ren in the eyes while playing The Smiths' "Girlfriend in a Coma" from his phone.

A hero isn't about being a powerhouse who fights other monsters but someone who helps others even at risk, Shinji shows this. I wonder if he's also doing stuff like that before he becomes a Rider, because being a Rider gives you more of a power and chance to be a hero. Assuming (ep. 14) that Goro knows that Kitaoka is a Rider, this episode shows that Goro isn't all about supporting him winning Rider War (he obviously supports him outside that) as he's worried about him going there.

Tezuka outright telling Ren to just give up on Eri for his own safety, basically being a murder in inaction (despite Tezuka being shown to care about innocents in previous episode). I think Shinji wouldn't be like that, he would be totally confused where if he stops Ren from fighting he'd create peace, but if he does that, he'll also let an innocent (Eri) die.

Gai shows more of what he has in the form of Confine Vent (2 copies!), it's like the reverse of usual Rider card, where weapon cards give you an advantage to opponents with new equipments, Confine Vent gives the opponent a disadvantage by removing their equipments. Another part of Raia being Gai's opposite. Also the fight shows where Shinji (once again) defends Ren from another Rider, by using Guard Vent to block Gai's Final Vent. So another way to survive Final Vent other than countering them with other Final Vent is using your Guard Vent to block, though Shinji's shield seemed destroyed at the end. A fact that gets overlooked by Shinji haters who think he's only carried by Ren in the entire show.

And who made the fight a mess in the first place, Kitaoka? And don't kill me for this one but to me, I think Ouja, Rider wise isn't my favorite in design. He's better than Gai and Raia IMO, but I don't like his design as much as the others (Ryuki and Scissors are debatable though). Same for his Final Vent, I know it's a bicycle kick but the movement IMO is like someone helplessly waving their body around due to falling from heights, which makes it quite silly to me especially for a serious hardened Rider. The end of the episode is one of the best showdowns, a Rider with their huge serpent-themed monster facing off. And Shinji still calls out Ouja for killing Gai (like Emu feeling bad for Kuroto's death), while Tezuka (who wants to change all Riders) seems just didn't care.

Shibaura's death is also, an ironic death like Scissors. He wants to manipulate other Riders to fight each other AND he thinks that he can manipulate Asakura too, but at the end, he's the one getting manipulated instead by the people he thought will manipulate, Asakura, by using him as a human shield to Zolda's Final Vent. Gai is the best Guard Vent!

https://scontent-sin6-1.cdninstagram...2b&oe=5EADA26B

I agree that this is the most baffling moment for her in the show. It's not like she was in danger after she's taken away, damn door's not locked. The most plausble explanation I can get (where he's in the shop, but she's somewhere else) is that she's taken by Metalgelas from a mirror and it brings her to the current place as mirrors can be used as a pseudo-teleportation; Wild monsters won't attack her but Contract Monsters can under Rider's orders. But still...not in actual danger.

Tbf it's the first time Shiro directly interacts with her again, he lied to her to keep her out of it but she's not convinced. May I ask, what impression she gave to you at the first few episodes?

Yeah, I love what happened to Gai here. His whole M.O. up to this point had been about manipulating the rules of the game and the other players in order to get ahead and he assumed that Asakura would be another chess piece that he could move around the board. But instead, Asakura basically picks up the chessboard and smacks Gai upside the head with it. It's a really good example of the difference between lawful evil and chaotic evil.

I really dug Asakura's Final Vent. I love the build up, the Snake Run he does to charge up his kick. It's properly theatrical.

It's a poetic ending for Shibaura, being so confident in his manipulations that he doesn't consider that he maybe stacked the deck against himself. (No, uh, pun intended.) If he'd not decided to jump in, to add himself to the conflict, maybe he'd've been in a better position to capitalize? But, you know, that's not our (our!) Shibaura. He's raised to feel invincible, and he never has to suffer the consequences of his actions. So inevitably he's going to get in too deep with a contest that's literally life or death. At least he died like he lived: assuming he wouldn't be devoured by a rhino monster who lived in a mirror.

I guess in the beginning I thought Yui'd be more integral, more of an equal partner in the story. But the show very quickly sidelined her into Damsel territory, where her main role is to worry about the boys. There's a... she has a weakness that doesn't feel merited by her place in the narrative, and it makes her questing feel kind-of embarrassing. What could be a mix of anger, guilt, confusion, shame, fear... it all plays as sort-of whiny and lame to me. Her search for answers doesn't have a forceful drive behind it, to me, so much as it has Yui looking pathetic. I don't know if it's the character or the performance, but she comes off as the kind of person you can't ever confide in, because she'll just start crying if you tell her anything honest.

I was hoping she'd be the peacemaker, the balance between Ren and Shinji, but she's mostly been The Fragile Woman, the character that needs to be protected from everything in the story, physically or emotionally.

It's a bummer.

I feel like Ryuki's doing it better Final Vent wise, with Dragreder coiling him around, him jumping high, and he flips around as Dragreder obscures him everytime he changes his position. And Ryuki's kick feels more impactful than Ouja's bicycle kick (probably because of it's silly movements to me) But it's just personal taste.

This is how Final Vent works in Ryuki (mostly), anyone getting touched by it is immediately destroyed. Which is why I questioned about Ren final vent-ing Tezuka in ep. 14 with him surviving, and where Ren hesitated to merely stab Shibaura with Sword Vent, but can scan Final Vents no problem.

I thought this mainly applies to people who only consider the "rule of cool" stuff in toku, where anyone not doing something in a "rule of cool" (like fighting, creating impossible science, etc.) way is treated as not doing something at all. Where involving yourself by investigating isn't a "cool" toku stuff so she's treated as doing nothing and only "worrying about the boys" part is being viewed.

I'm embarassed to discuss about this, and seemingly obstinate to you but, a certain review I read (I really want to share that review to whole KR fandom, but as it also has Ryuki, not now) talks about how actually strong-willed and strong character-wise she is for refusing to stay in the sidelines, trying to get involved, and keep searching for truth, risking her sanity, even if she (like you cover there) keeps getting heartbroken, getting hurt, and constantly being crushed around by the world.

Lol but didn't you beg for Ren not to listen to Yui doing that in ep. 10? (if because Ren mocking Shinji was funny). Other than that she still does the peacemaker time to time like before Shinji moves to Atori and when Shinji's card is stolen. I honestly thought before to you it was because that she doesn't start feuds with others lol, but actually like you said there being a peacemaker. Judging from my cover about Shinji/Tezuka and how you didn't find it memorable except for their quarrel.

Yeah, I don't know. I'm sure part of me is just disappointed with how the show's using Yui, and that makes me more negative about her. And I think some of it's the performance, whatever choices the actor is making aren't working for me.

Like, there's more of an emphasis lately (not in this one, though!) on Yui trying to piece together what Shiro was up to back in the Secret Science Society days. That's a huge piece of the plot that needs to be discovered. It's just, a) I don't feel like we've learned anything too terrifying or exciting yet, and b) I wish Yui didn't seem so on the verge of tears in every one of those scenes. I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe her brother becoming a mirror ghost and ruining so many lives in her name isn't that big of a deal? We've got a global pandemic under way, industries are on the precipice of disappearing, and like, people are still playing Animal Crossing, you know? Things don't have to be Feelings all day every day. It's like we've only got two things for Yui to do on this show, be worried about Riders or be worried about Shiro. It's sort-of exhausting to watch?

Oh, okay. I see how it is! 0.01% of Tokyo gets murdered a week in Kuuga, and you constantly question why everyone isn't evacuating the city in a panic, but Yui gets a bit upset about her own brother getting people killed, possibly because of her, and SUDDENLY it's "hey, maybe tone it down with all those pesky emotional responses". You can't fool me, Die! You're just looking for excuses to be critical!

Nah, I'm just messing with you. At least I think I am...

I see what you're saying about Yui's scenes, anyway. There are a lot of times when, compared to the fun of watching the Riders go at it, it's hard not for them to feel like an obligation more than anything.

But like, I'll stick up for her as a character any day of the week. I think it's pretty mean to pick on her like she's some horrible wet blanket when her motivations and reactions to things are all totally believable ways of responding to unbelievable events. I think it's important to keep an open mind about the way she's portrayed going forward. She's stronger than you think, but not in the way you seem to be expecting. She's never going to turn into Reiko overnight, because they're two different characters serving two different roles, even if the investigative angle is overlapping a bit.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know exactly what it is about Yui that's bothering me. I'm almost trying to work backwards, investigating why I feel the way I do. Writing about it, it's making me think harder about why I'm having this reaction to her. It's maybe unfair! I'll cop to that! But... man, there's something happening there that's working less and less for me. Gotta be something there.

I feel like it's probably a lot of the choices the actor is making. There's a way to play Yui's character where you want her to succeed, to find peace, to absolve herself of her guilt over her brother's actions... it's just, for me, that's not coming through. I don't at all feel that way when a Yui scene starts. There doesn't seem to be layers to her performance, it's just a minor calibration of How Much Does It Look Like She's Going To Cry. Oh, this is a 25% scene. This one's a 15%. This one's a 30% that becomes a 95%, so that's some range.

But the other thing, it's how isolated Yui feels from the main action. Like, remember the first episode, where Yui got to go fight Mirror Monsters with Ren? What was that, her birthday gift? Because they don't seem to let her leave the restaurant much, let alone help fight monsters. Was there a cut scene where she accidentally got a school bus full of children killed by a monster, so now she's banned from monster-fighting? No one seems to let her help fight monsters, and they barely talk to her about the Rider Battle stuff. If the show didn't want me to resent Yui scenes, maybe start putting her in the more important plots?