So yeah, Kamiya Naoto is just “Naoya Kaido” with the kana swapped around. Kind of the JP equivalent of the alias being an anagram of the real name.

And we get a full list at the monsters being used for the stamps: the Rhino Grongi (from Titan Form’s debut), the Culex Worm (from Drake’s debut), the Spider Fangire (from the show’s debut), the Aries Zodiarts (from Cosmic States’ debut) and the Stretch Smash (the one Sawa turned into… which was also Cross-Z’s debut). Supposedly, the theme was “monsters that transform from humans”, but it falls kind of flat with the Worm and Fangire, both of which were straight up monsters that took on human form. (While there are Worms transformed from humans, in the form of the Natives, aside from Hiyori and Mishima, they didn’t have unique forms like the Invading Worms. And while Shima was turned into a Fangire in one episode, it was clearly the exception, not the rule)

Anyway, enough nitpicking. Here’s more of Aguilera’s costume changing action

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...0EE2AE19A.jpeg

Yeah this is a crossover stuff. I find it surprising that George actually got Terui's autograph, despite asking for it. Perhaps he should give orders instead to say I want your autograph instead of questioning him. And here George already has mentioned his father.

I'd think actually Ikki is a detective-like Kamen Rider without being an actual detective, like how he outwitted Kudo. Guess this kind of murder mystery would be fitting for something that has Ikki as the MC, and the intro also has W vibes, with W actually being a part of this crossover. And ofc, Vice has the ability to be intangible and check out stuff, which also helps in outwitting Kudo. I'd think actually it's not something that special in Suzu that makes Ikki and Hiromi so smitten with her but perhaps that's just me.

Yeah, the moral beacons of justice in Kamen Rider is often shown to be the type who see the best in people. But I honestly hate it when mistrusting or thinking someone's lying is considered unheroic. Which is where I don't necessarily view idealism and kindness as one-part, of which the former is your worldview, yeah, the part of seeing the best, while the latter is an action, to do good to others. I don't want for goodness to look even more bad (and stupid/blind) and got discouraged. Being good and being mistrustful aren't mutually exclusive. Good people can be just as discerning and mistrustful as any hardened, gruffy character but they feel no obligation to wear their healthy sense of skepticism on their sleeve in plain view. At that point, all one has to do is keep their wits about them and observe.

This'd be the main appeal for George to people in this point, considered relatable that he's a Kamen Rider fanboy himself. And here actually Oren and Jonouchi returned the favor of also being enthusiastic in those photos. Gaim itself also has fandom dealing like Kouta (and Micchy) being asked for a photograph, for Beat Riders dance though, but that got interrupted.

Interesting! Thanks for all the info!

I guess I don't think of that so much as Solving A Mystery -- since they already knew Kudo was the culprit, they just needed to find a way to expose him -- as it is them trying to prove a point. It's a weird subsection of a legal drama, where you can know someone's lying, but you need to prove it in court. The Revice team is pretty good at getting involved enough in people's lives to get to the bottom of whatever they're hiding, but they're not great at figuring out which person is hiding something. Crucial difference!

Kaido spent the early part of Faiz boasting about how he's going to kill a bunch of humans, only to end up as one of the few Orphenochs to never kill a single one, so yeah, I didn't buy him being the culprit at all. He's not an idiot, he wouldn't have left his ash at the scene and more importantly, he wouldn't have left sand, as he points out. The murderer must've known Kaido was an Orphenoch and used that to frame him, relying on the probability that nobody else would even know enough about Orphenoch anatomy to question this inaccuracy. But what could the motive be?

Kamiya Naoto also sounds similar to Fukamiya Hayato and Miyamoto Musashi.

The main thing about this miniseries for me was that this was pretty much officially when I decided that I was never going to keep up with all of the ancillary material that they put out for these shows. I have all of the episodes downloaded, but I never felt like I needed to watch them, even knowing who some of the guest stars were. I like that we get all of these new miniseries and webisodes and stuff, but it usually takes something special to get me to pay attention to them.

I mean, I just assume it's Suzu, and her fiancee/husband/boyfriend was the monster researcher who mysteriously died/vanished. (I feel like we got a bit of her backstory in a scene, but it did not stick with me.) She's probably continuing his research and/or trying to revive him as a monster hybrid.

It's a lot, yeah. I sort of miss the days when in-series ancillary content was just a movie or two, an HBV, and a bunch of non-canonical Net Movies. Having whole mini-series full of side stories with nebulous connection to the main show? I'd rather stuff like this be a post-show V-Cin(ext) or whatever. It is very weird to me that we're at a point with Toei where a new episode basically every week for an entire year is considered insufficient exploitation of the IP.

It's like the shows are giving you homework. I don't want to feel like I have to do extra reading to understand something I'm watching to relax.

Sure, and I don't disagree with the reaction, but it's also... it's only a problem if you let it be one? The only thing that ever really matters to a season's story is the season itself. There might be a mini-series or a couple films, but those generally have little impact beyond showcasing an upcoming form, or teasing the arrival of the next Rider. We're rarely in a place where skipping some TTFC streaming thing means you've missed a death or resurrection, at least during a season.

I don't know. It's all optional, but it never feels optional -- I just can't figure out if that's the producers manipulating my affection for the show, or my own collector mindset demanding that I catch 'em all or whatever.

KAMEN RIDER REVICE: THE MYSTERY EPISODE 4

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../mystery4a.png

The main thing that makes a mystery story for me isn’t the complexity of the plot, or the construction of the cast, or even the fleetness of the storytelling. It’s how fairly the mystery played for the audience; how possible was it to guess the culprit in advance of the detective.

On that front, I thought this episode’s Drawing Room Accusation stuff mostly worked. I got it when Ikki got it: When Suzu says the word "Orphnoch", there’s no way she could’ve heard it yet. Kaido didn’t identify his monster type before he jumped out a window, and Ikki was the first person to see her afterwards. There’s no possible way for her to have just learned he was an Orphnoch, so she must’ve known well in advance and hidden it from everyone else. Plus, there’s almost no one else it could be at this point; Suzu was the only character with enough screentime to make for a villain worth confronting.

Beyond that… hoo boy, it’s all just a mix of previously unrevealed details, stuff the audience learned outside of Ikki’s investigation – meaning Ikki had no idea whatsoever of Suzu’s potential motivation – and wild suppositions that incredibly turned out to be accurate. The biggest offender is the frequent instances of Suzu spilling dirt, which I can’t recall ever being shown onscreen, despite Ikki mentioning it as his first clue something was up. It’s the only clue prior to this episode, but I don’t think it was ever actually shown to the audience? Seems like a big deal!

Still, it mostly doesn’t matter in the details. Suzu was bound to be the culprit, her motivation seemed reasonable to deduce in the previous episode, and the nuts and bolts of how she committed her various crimes is more academic than integral. (Nice to know that half the reason for attacking Hiromi was that he was a sweaty pest! This poor guy! Jesus!) I don’t love how much Ikki just guesses that ice cubes were used to delay the discovery of a crime scene until the perpetrators had an alibi, but whatever.

It’s a fairly good resolution to this mystery, even if it leans more heavily on new information -slash- lucky guesses than I’d prefer. There’s a fun rhythm to the accusation scene trading off Terui’s half of the solution with Ikki’s half, as Suzu unconvincingly tries to deflect their interrogation. (She’s got this facetious But I’m A Helpless Damsel voice that plays great with the smirk that’s breaking through her facade.) Even as I’m grumbling about the minutiae, I still found myself enjoying the resolution to the mystery.

But not the resolution to The Mystery; that’s tomorrow! Will Terui finally Henshin into Accel? Will things get worse for Kaido? And will the resurrected fianc? get an evil repaint of Barid Rex? The answer to all of these questions – which is almost certainly Yes – will be uncovered tomorrow!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../mystery4b.png

The most I remember from this particular part is a) Vice’s random impersonation of Tassel (to which someone on Discord said “One does not need a reason to impersonate Tassel. Dons pink hat” and b) one sub has Vice describing everyone being suspicious as “Everyone here is a sussy baka” (merging a rather obnoxious meme from Among Us with the gratuitous Japanese word for “idiot”. It’s a very nonsensical sentence as a result)

And now, today’s Aguilera cosplay gives us some Gamer energy (though presumably, a better game than Among Us)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...7963B9048.jpeg