Feel like Jiiya can be biased to Tsurugi (not in demeaning way, but still can make Tsurugi get away scot free for his problems) even if he can soften him, while Deneb has more concern for others (albeit he does tell that Yuuto isn't a bad person). I was mainly comparing Deneb to Kintaros, as he's another Imagin without malicious traits. And about Makoto, "Ryotaro knows him as a good man, this version is still the abrasive teenager", well my point was that same goes for Makoto, "Takeru and Akari knew him as a caring friend, this current version is still the aggressive hostile man".

And probably, Imagins in the contract holders of the week is a representation of the potential worst side of the contract holders? That if they have enough powers and no moral, they'll do what the Imagins do to get their wish right? Kobayashi's shows all dealing with wishes, Ryuki with a war that grants the winner a wish, Den-O with wish-granting Imagins, and OOO with Greeed feeding off human desire. And for the Imagins except Kin (it represents Ryotaro's moral too then?) having negative traits... that would qualify for Ryotaro too... right? Like you said there, Momotaros turning him into a violent misfit, Urataros turning him into manipulative jerk, Ryutaros turning him into a trigger-happy spoiled man (him insisting to kill a contract holder). They represent Ryotaro's trait taken to the extremes.

Yeah, this one's an inversion where the human is worse and the monster is better. Deneb is like you said, probably the soft side of Yuuto that is stated by Nogami siblings, and likely if this Yuuto still has it, something that he tries to push away, like Kobayashi's previous secondary Rider Ren. And actually, contrary to popular belief, like what you talk here about balance of kindness and pragmatism, Yuuto's personality of being adverse to something like friendship or feelings, viewing those as weakness, is actually detrimental, because they can eventually lack the efficiency due to them pushing others away, without any support needed to overcome the odds, or that they can make things worse too (just like if kindness is taken too far), just like Tsurugi, pushing away others because of self-righteousness and is intolerant to others' views (like Yuuto to Den-O in this fight), it can just cause a civil war between protagonists, hindering their effectiveness a lot (either reduced bad guy fighters, or harmed allies that turned into actual dead weight against foes). And for you saying Deneb barrier-ing Yuuto's success in combat, I don't think I'll agree on that, Deneb doesn't like hold back on the Imagin or something, he just fights and eliminates them as usual.

Well, with Den-O setting being based on time travel, like the dog before, this situation can potentially be changed by saving the fiancee, as the time travel rule here is the usual change the past change the future type. But this will lead into the argument of, saving others or changing the flow of time (which is like Ryotaro vs Yuuto at this point) which I wonder which changes are small enough to not change the flow of time, including before where the dog is saved by Ryotaro, where this one is just like Tetsuo one, improving the condition of someone griefing based on the past, and giving him a closure needed to push forward.

I wish that Ryotaro checking the contract holder and Den-O fighting monsters can be utilized more strategically like, Ryotaro and the Imagins are more than 1 being, I wonder if the Imagins can fight and hold off the monsters by themselves, while Ryotaro goes to check the contract holders. They're going to the battlefield by possessing Ryotaro either in human form or as one of Den-O's forms.

Don't think that Zeronos' finisher is that cool, well I just had tight marking of Rider's finishers. Zeronos' default form seems to still possess Deneb's traits like the green color, and most importantly, it's strong enough to fight off monsters unlike Plat Form. Deneb taking part of Zeronos instead turns it into new form, Vega form.

Yeah, like above I said, Yuuto's not right. And wouldn't talk about Yuuto being more effective than Ryotaro either, pushing away friends would deride them of the supports needed if one can't overcome the odds, or create an infighting between allies like Tsurugi, fighting off allies because of you disagreeing with them, which will just injure and tire out both allies, rendering them too weak against the actual foes. Yuuto is solely focused on only protefcting the flow of time, without (at least on surface) care for other things, so of course his way will accomplish his goals as it's only for protecting the flow of the time, but will it be the right way and improve the situation, creating the best outcome for everyone else? Not necessarily. Ryotaro doing what he thinks the right isn't bound by rule, like the changing the flow of time part, and that reminds me of Yusuke who "borrows" a police bike as his sense of right and wrong doesn't have much to do with the law. Hana also previously asked Ryotaro about his choices that can potentially change the time flow, but Hana is a hostile figure to the Imagins, but total opposite to Ryotaro, especially with the actual proof of Ryotaro's action making the situation better for others while keeping the time flow same, Hana's full support of Ryotaro also includes his actions here.

Ah! This reminds me of several more things I love about Zeronos:

- Having Altair Form be something he can access entirely on his own further illustrates the difference between Yuuto and Ryoutarou, with the former not needing to borrow anyone else's strength; while Den-O is basically powered entirely by friendship, because the latter is incapable of doing anything himself. It really nicely reflects the difference in personality between the two that Vega Form is an option for Zeronos, while also having him arguably be less flexible overall.

- It's been said several times in here already that Den-O set the formula Rider would start employing from around Double to Wizard, and one of the things I love about that era of secondary Riders, that I think really started with Zeronos, is how they're like a watered down version of the main guy in some ways. Accel only has one Memory; Birth uses Cell Medals; Meteor relies on martial arts rather than a wide array of Switches; and Beast gets cute little shoulder capes instead of actual new forms. That sort of thing. With Zeronos, he's only got the one Imagin (you might say it's a case of quality over quantity for Yuuto~), and instead of the fancy modern contactless train pass, his are just plain cards he jams into the belt. It's a simple thing, but I don't know, I just find it really neat.

(Also, I'm now half-seriously wondering if I should numbering these? Seems like I've got a lot of 'em in me!) :p

I think Kin's bravery and commitment have been shown to have negative sides? His tendency to needlessly self-sacrifice instead looking for a better solution, or how his need to offer assistance can lead to him butting in where he's not needed. He means well, more so than the other Imagin (mostly), but he's still something that needs to find the proper balance.

Pretty sure this story says that the fiance knew she was sick before burying the time capsule, so there's really nothing extra Ryotaro could've done in the past to save her.

To date, none of Ryotaro's Imagin have be shown to be able to exist physically in the real world. The second they get knocked out of possessing him, the end up back on the DenLiner. It looks like only Zeronos gets to have a helper on the battlefield!

Yeah, Vega Form feels different from any of Den-O's forms. When Ryotaro calls on the Imagin, it's because he believes in them. When Yuuto calls on Deneb, it's because he's stopped believing in himself. It shows in the way the two humans communicate with their Imagin when they're teaming up to fight a monster. With Ryotaro, it's guidance and pep-talks. With Yuuto, it's frustration and resentment.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 21 - "FIGHTING STYLE”

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This show! When it leaves aside the overarching horseshit about destroyed timelines and displaced fiances, and settles in for an internally-generated and insanely comedic look at jealousy and resolving rivalries, it is absolutely unbeatable. The more this show focuses on a half-dozen weirdos trying to express themselves, the better it is.

I mean, god do I not care about parsing out the mysteries of Yuuto and Hana. It's a mix of contradictory theories, serious looks, pregnant pauses, and unresolved questions. It is Exhibit A in why I generally don't expend any brainpower on Kamen Rider series mysteries. They'll tell me when it's time for me to know, and every scene that addresses it prior to that point is something to be suffered through. The episode clearly shares my sense of aggrieved disinterest, since the choreography in the early exposition is jaw-droppingly clever and distracting.

Like, I couldn't be less interested in the equivocations of Owner, but that whole choreographed routine he did with Ryuta! WHAT! The bit where Ryuta drops the cane onto Owner's ankle, and Owner kicks it up into his own hand?! The whole thing would be needlessly showy, if it weren't for so much of the dialogue being a boring recitation of Time Nonsense. As it is, the weird posing and dancing was the best part of that scene!

Everything after that is non-stop greatness, though. After an overly-seasoned meal of otherwise bland meat, here's a nearly episode-length dessert.

There's a plot in here (Ryuta is jealous of Yuuto's history with Airi), and maybe a theme (disciplining children?), but it's all so secondary to how unrelentingly fun this episode is. It's both ludicrously funny and thrillingly adventurous, a combo that I have no defense against.

The comedy is mostly Deneb-related and, yeah: maybe the best character on the show? His pure-heartedness and too-trusting nature makes him an amazing comedy partner for the perpetually grumpy and accusatory Yuuto. Having a plot where Deneb dresses up in a tiger costume so a vendor can take a nap, and that's an episode-long runner... insane. That is lightning in a bottle, and I can only imagine how thrilled the production team was when they saw the first cut of this episode. Literally every Deneb gag in this killed. The physical comedy never stopped cracking me up, with the pinnacle being this gif that I will probably laugh at forever:

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The DenLiner Imagin don't fare much worse, comedically, since it's the Grown-Ups trying to wrangle Ryuta and it does not go well. The escalation of Ryuta's drawings covering more and more of the floor, and the Imagin treating them like hot lava... it's just more expert choreography in an episode already brimming over with it.

Which, yeah, that's why the Gun Form vs Altair Form fight is so good! There's so much fluidity to each fighter's moves, and the editing really lets the stunt performers show off. Cuts are spread out to really sell how serious this fight is, how it's potentially fatal to Zeronos. You get these disorienting shots from Den-O and these desperate swings from Zeronos, tense dodges and strategic reversals. Just a nail-biting action finish to a consistently entertaining episode.

This one was a real winner. I don't have a lick of interest in Hana's lost timeline (and I like Hana!) or Yuuto's mysterious history (and I like Yuuto!), but when this episode put that stuff to bed and just relaxed, I was having a great time. Fun-ass show, you guys.

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THE BAGGAGE CAR

- ...I just want to watch that gif again.

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Look all I really remember about this episode is Ryutaros and his flunkies aggressively breakdancing at Yuuto and if you don't understand why that's the best thing ever then you're not as real Kamen Rider fan.

Den-O definitely works more as a series of standalone vignettes more than it does as an overarching plot (you’ll get more fuel for this fire later on). Just a shame it can’t commit to either.

Anyway, time for a look at our two-in-one Imagin’s VA.

Koji Ochai

Notable Anime roles: Reuben in Stitch, Tetsu Trudge in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, Celestino Chaldini in Yuri on Ice.

Notable Tokusatsu roles: Black Knight BullBlack in Seijuu Sentai Gingaman.

Notable dubbing roles: Douglas J. Needles in Back to the Future Part II, Papa Midnite in Constantine, Aladeen in the Dictator, Wheelie in the Transformers film series, Ben 10,000 in the Ben 10 franchise, Tommy Oliver in Moghty Morphin Power Rangers.

Plot aside my biggest focus at the time was Zeronos himself. It was two years after Hibiki so I was genuinely shocked to see Nakamura the actor come back for more, which also lead to curiosity. First impression I got was Kyosuke 2.0 but now with a personal babysitter. :lolol
The Zeronos suit I instantly fell in love with it. I like how Altair form is the rider form being more agile yet strong while Vega form feels like the heavy duty masked form in a sense. Which reminds me, this was our second green kamen rider to be of the bovine kind since Zolda(and our third green bovine hero if you include super sentai's Magi Green from Magiranger, Ohranger's green ranger had a green bull robot but his motif was not a bull so that does not count).

Yeah, if I recall it was after this show he switched to stunt doubling and went to a agency called Takeshi Racing which mostly handles automobile-related stunts for tokusatsu. I thought he was wanting to be more of a traditional actor but seems like this was why. He later quit showbiz in whole to be a judo therapist but recently seems to have participated in Dogengers alongside Seiji Takaiwa and Katsuhiro Suzuki who played Hiromu/Red Buster and Mondo/Kamen Rider Quiz.

He is also in terms of suit color a polar opposite to Sword Form, red contrasting green and all.

A little shocked that the Seihou Gun Form figure didn't come with pivotal, character-defining accessories like Ryuta's dance crew, Dance Dance Ryutalution. Another failure from Bandai!

That's just the nature of the beast? A year-long Kamen Rider series always has to balance one-off stories with longform narratives. You can't ever just do one or the other, even if you're a show that's more successful at one type. Making a goofy, fast-paced MOTW show that never grows its mythology is going to get stale, so we do need some big Plot stuff to push the characters into new situations.

I just feel like the Hana/Sakurai stuff right now is too vague to get excited about, and they'd be better off giving us something more tangible to react to.

Yeah, it's a little weird that they cast Asumu's Rival to play Ryotaro's Rival a couple shows later. Usually, you might push a background/one-off player up to the main cast (Asuna was in a Ghost HBV before Ex-Aid), or cast against type (Dr Maki from OOO is a slimy executive in Amazons). You don't usually just put the same guy in the same role, especially with so little time between shows.

Actually in Super Sentai now that I think about it there were instances where actors would appear as one character and then appear in the next show as someone else. Take Junichi Haruta for example aka Hirose's dad in Blade. During his prime he was the black ranger in a show called Goggle V and in the very next show Dynaman he was that team's black ranger as well.