One of the nice things about Legend Rider appearances in Phase 2 is that, generally, they all have more normal hairstyles. They look like adults now. That's awesome!

I knew I'd get you by telling you "the storyline featuring the Inoue characters was really good when you remember how Inoue wrote them". Your one weakness

I don't really like this movie, but I voted for the canon ending and it's relevant to Faiz, so I feel obliged to talk about it.

I want to agree with you here, since it's definitely in Takumi's nature to blame himself for everything, especially when you have Kusaka telling him he doesn't deserve to live and essentially putting those thoughts in his head (even though the instigating flashback scene isn't even canon to the show!), but I'm inclined to agree with Die on this one. It just feels like Takumi is going through the same moral he already learned. Yeah, he's never going to be totally okay with himself, but there was a point where he found pride and purpose in his role as Faiz, where he found the strength to bear the burden of his sins for the sake of his honorable mission. Kusaka's death wasn't even his fault, so while I can't fault Takumi for feeling the way he does, I feel like his internal conflict is pretty much just there to Justifaiz the Showa Riders' complaints, as an example of unhealthy attachment to the dead. He's there to make the very incorrect Showa Riders look marginally less incorrect, which isn't the best way I'd like one of my favorite Riders to be utilized. Not that I don't appreciate seeing Takumi again, but I think the next Kamen Rider War is a much better showing for him.

I was also surprised by the self-destruction of Jin Base, teaching Keisuke that you're not a real Kamen Rider unless you're always suffering and lonely! Exaggerating a little, but it's more like a form of tough love, pushing him to be more independent and stop being so whiny. After that, he learned to accept his existence as a remodified human. Maybe that's the lesson he wanted to impart on Takumi, to not get lost in his thoughts and focus on the fighting.

For all my criticism of this movie, I love how Haruto was presented here. I've only watched it once, but I fondly recall how he gave his sempai Takumi a punch to open his eyes and asserted that his connection to his dead loved one Koyomi is his hope for the future. Takumi and Haruto were like my favorite protagonists at the time, so seeing them fight together with Keisuke was a highlight for me.

In a way, Takumi did save Kiba though. He saved his humanity and inherited his wish to protect humanity in both humans and Orphenochs. Kusaka died resenting the cruel world that killed him and that's probably what weighed on Takumi's conscience.

I commend your very good taste, Frontier. Regarding the inaccuracy of Takumi's flashback, I do have a headcanon about that, concerning a certain event from the next Kamen Rider War....

I wonder if this movie was an experiment by Toei to determine from the vote which style of Kamen Rider was more popular with the fans, like if Showa had won, maybe future installments would have took more inspiration from that era, but since Heisei was the canon ending, they stuck with formula? I also consider how many Showa voters might have regretted their decision after seeing how their favorite Riders were presented as grumpy old men telling the youth to get off their lawn. Even the slightly better Heisei ending, Kouta protecting the flower feels like Yonemura stole it from Soutarou's action in Gaoranger VS Super Sentai.

I think we can all agree Decade was the best part about this movie.

Sure, it's exactly what happened with Super Hero Taisen, except they really do dislike each other, but there are some things about this movie that I actually did like.

I may not know anything about Faiz, but I did sort of like what they were doing with him, which sort of fits the theme where he in some ways despises himself, making the conflict between the Showa and Heisei Riders fitting in his case. And that's not to say some of the other returning casts didn't have leave a good impression on me. Shotarou was great to see again, along with Haruto, who despite didn't do much in this movie, was still great to see, especially with how well he plays into Takumi's arc. And I will never not be happy to see any of the Showa Riders return, ZX being a little surprising given how little people care about him.

The story with the kid isn't horrible, but not really a favorite, though Fifteen looks great. And of course, we get to see Tsukasa travelling around and starting conflicts (onore Decade!), being his usual self, in which it's every time he appears outside his own series, he absolutely steals the show. The Legend Rider Arms are pretty cool, and it's nice to see Ichigo Themed Power Ups.

But nothing can really redeem the portrayal of the Showa Riders at the finale (it is surprising that there's another ending where the Showa Riders win, and that this was the popular voted ending, thanks guys!), which is even more disappointing compared to the random Sentai cameos, but to be fair, they never really marketed this as a Sentai Vs. Rider Movie. I get they wanted to have the two generations fight, but they could have done a better conflict, rather than just say "You guys are lame. What happened to bugs? You got too many toys. You had it easy." it really takes away from the veterans to have them being grumpy old men with petty reasons to despise the younger generation.

Overall, it's not at all a great movie, but it does have stuff I like about it, since it's always fun to see your favorite Riders appear together, and that's all that matters to me anyway.

I just remembered this but someone on Reddit pointed out a few months ago that the sundae Tsukasa ate in Drupers looks like Decade. It's a cute little detail that I didn't notice when I watched Heisei vs. Showa.

https://i.redd.it/divz3jjfjc751.jpg

Imagine if that got recreated on Binging With Babish. Actually there alot of food in tokusatsu that I want recreated chief of which being Fuuto Fumen Ramen.

I like to think that ZX's appearance here - as a monumentally unhelpful mole - is a tribute to his joke role in the Decade Net-Movies as a sweaty hanger-on, riding Tsukasa's coattails into newfound relevance. He got his wish, I guess!

Almost used that picture in the movie post, since it's a great reveal for Tsukasa entering the story proper. Very cool touch! Also, OH MY GOD is that a gigantic sundae! That would probably serve every Rider in the movie! It's so Tsukasa to order something huge like that, just for himself, and then wander off without finishing it.

KAMEN RIDER X KAMEN RIDER DRIVE & GAIM: MOVIE WAR FULL THROTTLE

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...drivegaim1.png

The Gaim portion of this movie was always going to be an uphill struggle. As an epilogue… like, Kouta and Mai became space gods. What could be a threat to them? What story is there left to tell with the title character of Kamen Rider Gaim?

The answers to those questions would turn out to be “Brainiac from Superman” and “Nothing, so let’s do a story about Micchi and Takatora instead”.

Megahex isn’t much of a villain, practically or thematically. This movie’s opening and closing thirds are about the power of individuality, and that’s fine. Megahex is all about homogenization triumphing over messy uniqueness, and the cast of Gaim is a prime example of messy uniqueness. But Megahex is overpowered from the start, a typical post-show villain: if the hero took 50 episodes to get a Final Form, the epilogue movie will immediately make that Final Form look like an HBV suit. Worse, he’s just some robot guy, looking down his robot nose at humanity’s inability to welcome its own destruction/salvation. He’s better than a bunch of movie villains, in that there’s even a token attempt to provide an origin that ties into the show’s backstory, but he’s still not that fun to see operate. There’s, purposefully, not a ton of variation to either his attacks or his personality. You get one fight, but multiple times in a row. Doesn’t make for the most compelling adversary!

That puts all of the pressure on a semi-redemption arc for Micchi and Takatora, and I just don’t feel like there’s a lot there? Despite cameos by Ryouma and Kaito, there’s a real sense of Well Who’s Still Alive to the plotting here. A redemption arc for either Micchi or Takatora is, in theory, the best possible use for a Gaim epilogue. But their utility in this particular story isn’t great, because the villain isn’t really built to say anything about their specific journeys. This is a villain attacking individuality, which doesn’t really mesh well with Pragmatism That Curdles Into Cruelty–

wait

Ha ha, OH SHIT, I get it now. Megahex is just their plan for the Genesis Ark (or whatever it was called) blown up to intergalactic proportions. Okay, yeah, absolutely, I get why Megahex is put up against those two. Wow. Clever plotting!

There’s still some stuff that didn’t work for me, though. Micchi’s story with Mai in the series is unbelievably tricky, and I don’t know that there’s enough time devoted to trying to untangle it. He’s mostly just trying to rescue her as a means of personal salvation, and that’s… I don’t know if that really gets the point of how he hurt her? She never brings it up, but Mai’s relationships with the men of Gaim are so horrifyingly toxic that I feel like Contrite Incel probably looks a lot like real friendship to her.

Also, I just find it super funny that they clearly did not have Kouta for a lot of days in the filming of this movie, and so we got a Gaim epilogue with a very small amount of face-time with The Guy Who Played Gaim. It’s a whole lot of VO for the co-headliner of this movie.

Beyond all that… man, I was all ready to be down on this film for its thematic flimsiness, but they really ended up trying to say something about recognizing your weaknesses, and pushing through them into a place of self-improvement. I have grown to like you, weirdly Gaim-less Gaim portion of this movie!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...drivegaim2.png

This, though! I do not need to convince myself of anything for this Drive story. What a delight!

It’s tough to pick a favorite Phase 2 series. It’s really the sweet-spot for my Kamen Rider fandom: I came in through Ex-Aid, devoured W through Ghost, and then started my TokuNation membership with Ghost and Build. I ended up loving all of them, for different reasons. OOO is usually what I’ll cite as the Best Kamen Rider series; and Ex-Aid will always be my Unimpeachable Kamen Rider series, since it was my first; but, man, Drive might be my favorite?

Shinnosuke is almost definitely my favorite lead Rider. There’s just the right mix of Competence and Weirdness to allow for both propulsive mysteries and comedic interludes. There’s a part in this section of the film where he has to mourn the (definitely not final) death of his crime-fighting partner - a talking belt named Mister Belt - and it is heartbreaking. He is so present, emotionally, for every single scene in the film, no matter how ridiculous they might seem. He’s the most committed actor in the story; and he’s the most charismatic, as well. You’re just rooting for him, you know?

And the Drive Team is such a memorable selection of weirdos, where everyone contributes to Drive’s success. This isn’t some coffee shop or other coffee shop (I genuinely could not think of a non-cop shop, non-coffee shop example), this is a collection of trained individuals who all have applicable skills. They all have a reason to be in the story, which is… not a guarantee!

So, boy, this was a real delight, getting to spend time with a Drive adventure. And it’s a good one! It’s Cop Toku Hero versus Thief Toku Anti-Hero, an idea that would never again be dealt with in tokusatsu. I don’t know that the ensuing story is any great shakes – the “mystery” doesn’t exactly play fair, but it barely matters – but the bones of this are terrific.

A ton of it is in the iconography. Ultimate Lupin! I mean, if you need a thief, there’s your guy. Kamen Rider Lupin is a dazzling costume, a fun powerset (those film reels!), and a Villain With A Code that slots in perfectly with the overall Drive themes of self-actualization and personal evolution. He’s like a Mach mixed with Chase, another thing I just made up that is unique to this post. Add in his backstory that quotes from Krim’s (much like Megahex’s Helheim notes), and you have a really solid, really fun one-off Drive adversary.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...drivegaim3.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...drivegaim4.png

And that fun just spills over into the movie’s finale, which is mostly an excuse for The One Returning Gaim Character You Hoped Would Appear, and a much wackier Gaim/Drive team-up than I was prepared for.

Kaito! Kaito came back! It’s only really a couple three beats, but they’re good ones. It’s hilarious to see him resurrected for the purpose of unifying all life, only for him to go Why Did You Think I Would Do That. He’s a character that’s always been about his own personal struggle, so a race that wants personal victories subsumed into their collective… HA HA HA HA JESUS. They literally could not have picked a worse Gaim character to resurrect.

All of the Gaim/Drive stuff is priceless. I love how low-key bummed Kouta seems when he realizes that someone else got to be the Car Kamen Rider. He really loves Drive's aesthetic! It probably doesn’t help that Kouta seems adorably unprepared to defend his motif or life choices. I don’t know if it’s the Drive Is A Cop energy permeating into the finale, but there’s a real buddy cop thing going on in the finale, where Kouta and Shinnosuke are both about 40% more manic than on their respective shows. Whatever it is, it absolutely works for the end of this movie, making the movie-only form changes hysterically tongue-in-cheek and the final victory disarmingly thrilling.

I found the opening third a little dull (if smarter now than when I was watching it), but once Drive shows up? This thing is in top gear, all the way to the credits. It’s like the best-ever theme song says, I guess: All We Need Is Drive!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...drivegaim5.png

Noteworthy that it's got one of my favorite movie themes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXPQbFHGQFE

Seeing Mai play a damsel in distress (again!) was a bit weird to me. She's the Woman of the Beginning for crying out loud. She traveled through time! Surely she has other powers? It might have been a bit more forgivable if she tried to actually defend herself instead of just running away before Megahex captured her.

Regarding her relationship with Micchy, however, I think her forgiveness and willingness to give him another chance fit in perfectly with her character of being this bright, optimistic and bubbly person who's willing to see the good in others. Personally though, I would've preferred a scene where Mitsuzane actually apologises to her about all the crap he put her through, they have a heart-to-heart talk and then part on good terms. I feel like Mai's forgiveness would then feel more natural and have a more solid weight behind it instead of just 'water under the bridge, no questions asked'.