That fight sequence is incredibly good! It doesn't have that same sense of unbridled nostalgia that the Hibiki finish had, but it still manages a HEY IT'S RYUKI SURVIVE or whatever, and it doesn't wear out its welcome with the approach. Guy shows up, finishing move, guy disappears. Short and sweet.

Final Forms for ancillary Riders... are any of them good? I think of most of them being steps down from the base suits, with a couple minor exceptions. What are some good Secondary/Tertiary Final Forms I'm forgetting about?

I think it's an inevitable thing. We All Process Art Differently, etc etc. Everyone's bringing their own life experiences to art, so they're bound to draw out one or two things that connect with them on a personal level. It's natural.

I'm not sure what this is referring to, sorry! Can you give me a little more of an explanation?

Yeah, him finally valuing the journey rather than the destination... it's a good note for the character!

Everything with advisor felt like it was going to be some clue that, like, Natsumi's memories were being altered or something. It was so unreal, that guy's attitude, that I thought it was setting up a twist. But then it didn't? It was just some teacher who gave them an A+ in Refusing To Follow Society's Rules But Then Deciding To Fit In On Your Own Terms? I would not have been shocked if that dude turned out to not even work for the school, he was just some weirdo who wanted to hang out with cool teenagers.

I was with you until you called out Snipe Level 50, aka The Suit That Made Me Start Watching Kamen Rider, as not as pure and beautiful and universal as Tajador or Ghost Mugen. Too far, Kurona! You crossed a line!

But, honestly, I get where you're coming from. When I complain about Decade Complete (or Fourze Cosmic States, my previous least-favorite suit), it's just personal preference. I don't think the suits are Bad, or even Ineffective. I just don't like looking at them. I'll joke around, but I'll glad acknowledge that every suit probably has a fan for every detractor. We all process suits differently!

what is it about a hot pink and fluorescent yellow-colored, bike shorts-wearing, spike-haired superhero design that you think takes courage to produce

I thought we were friends, and you just wound me like this. Hurtful. Hurtful words.

I feel like this two-parter is going to be something that informs my view of the series, while being a) nothing I'm going to remember the story of, and b) not one I'm rushing to revisit. Like, it manages to successfully evolve Tsukasa's character, establishing him as someone who is now traveling because that's his take on heroism instead of being cajoled or rewarded, while still doing it in a dull, diffused way. It's a story that works great if I talk about it thematically, but disappoints if I talk about it narratively.

INOUE FOREVER!

That is a positive outcome! Don't be shy about it!

You can't really be saying this in the same post you said survive, right? :p

https://news.tokunation.com/wp-conte...rvive%2001.jpg

I’ve always liked Complete form. Though now that we’ve gotten Complete 21 I can now finally call the original sleek and compact.

And also I just love the K-Touch activation sound it so satisfying to hear every single time. And it just makes me nostalgic for some reason

Wish the ideas of an alternate Natsumi, dark riders being a thing moreso than regular riders around here could've been explored, but oh well. Complete had a great debut, but I feel it's later uses were kinda meh. I still love the idea of the suit, though, even if it posed a problem in production.

Hey now, don't forget Kaixa's final form!

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...75/352/cc9.jpg

If something is naturally predisposed to a certain act or state, doesn't mean it must be accepted conditionally or that they should never get objection. It's perfectly normal yeah for bringing own life experiences, but how you process and express that frustration is something else like what I said before about the difference between "I wasn’t a fan of <something> due to weird pacing, inconsistency...." and "<something> is terrible and people shouldn’t enjoy that, it contains everything people should hate....".

I mean about not being easy to support Toshiki Inoue.

Have to say I agree for this part I guess, this is meant to be a tribute to the Dark Riders, but they seem to be only focusing on their fights as Riders. Though of course the Dark Riders aren't the same as the original cast of their respective series, as per Decade, but probably yeah they can bring back the previous worlds (don't really know about what the worlds work other than potential destruction, so I'd feel more free to suggest something that isn't limited to the world's mechanics, which I even do if talking about series like Den-O or such) for those Riders. I think other than Inoue writing this, Otoya's return seems to be similar like adult Wataru's return at the first episode, but Otoya's return here is more faithful to his original character.... except that there are no stakes of him using Dark Kiva, he can use it as if it's a normal transformation trinket!

Tsukasa's not satisfied, but yeah would need to learn about what are his goals to understand what would make him satisfied. So far from what I get he was trying to save the 9 world due to Tsukasa being someone who lives there. But from the beginning, it seems that what makes Tsukasa frustrated is his photography skills, which he enjoys as a hobby, but the only thing that he sucks at despite his hypercompetency at anything else. Though there are people who really can't convey what they want if asked for. You'd think that Tsukasa likes travelling here, but there're also what I get is a contradicting view from others (CMIIW), like how Tsukasa is a generalist, being a collection of 9 preceding Riders all with their own identities and dreams for the future and that's part of why Tsukasa feels so ostracized and rejected by the world. He can't have a dream for the future cause he doesn't even have a present or a past he can cling to, being a passing through Kamen Rider, like a ghost who passes through his own life, without understanding his place or what he's supposed to do.

So if I'd take both views them it means Tsukasa always feels weird, and the travelling part only gives a sliver of hope to him. but doesn't mean he's fully happy doing that either. Though some of this would be also caused by his own bad traits, no way Tsukasa would accept that his photography skills suck or have himself learn from others due to his enormous ego, of acknowledging that he does have something he doesn't excel at. Still that I'd think there are no real restriction of Tsukasa's movement (probably just about how he can't go to the previous Rider worlds due to what Narutaki claims... but that's all of us! Only being on 1 Earth), so he still can travel, for self-discovery, and 1 Earth alone is more than just Hikari Studio. Though I'd also like to see how a jerk copes of being bored, because being jerk and being bored can be a deadly combination. He did have a jerk behavior, but not related to him being bored I guess, like draining Onodera's wallet. And too bad for Onodera, he cannot find any W for now, for him being only revealed 1 year after Decade ended.

It may be.. boring, but yeah being boring doesn't mean they deserve hell or such, which is just an extreme reaction to those people especially if they didn't doing anything wrong. Bringing this up because there's a hint of Tsukasa having that view, that sad people like the Dropout Club is not worth helping or such for being sad guys, and there are some who'd be baffled if a character can cherish a 'boring and average' person, seemingly giving an indication that if you're boring you don't deserve to live... Otherwise, this is probably a subjective view that it's primarily you rejecting flashbacks, where Tsukasa's dilemma is handled with what's your cup of tea. Though what I think is not really known is about how the group in this episode is mostly just about gathering together, without any, and probably I didn't think that there was any clear reason for Natsumi to want to join the group... other than at least Natsumi (for a gorgeous schoolgirl) isn't hostile to boys, as the club is filled with them mostly.

Ah, yes. The best Survive form (nothing against Ryuki's, but Knight had it made).

Of course, there's also Cross-Z Magma.

Attachment 61162

My personal favourite secondary final form goes to… someone I can’t talk about yet! So Knight Survive aside let me instead shout out Exceed Gills, Wild Chalice, Baron Lemon Energy, Sin Specter and Prime Rogue. A lot of these are minor adjustments but honestly sometimes that does just work really well!

I’m not sure it counts, but I absolutely love the G3-X suit. Also liked whatever Accel’s blue form was called.