I've been waiting for Kitazaki to show up. I've been dropping a lot of casting trivia recently and this is my favorite.

Kitazaki is played by an actor named Ray Fujita. A couple years after this, he would be cast as one of the main characters on one of my favorite tokusatsu shows of all time: Garo. He plays the character Rei, aka Makai Knight Zero in that series and has gone on to reprise the role multiple times over the years, most recently in Zero: Dragon Blood, his second standalone miniseries. It's a completely different performance, but he's equally great in that part and I've long been a big fan of his work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM4CXQ0ze-Q

Yeah, now that I think about it in hindsight, there are several 'big things!!' that happen in the movie that could reasonably become an actual plot point in the show itself. Without prior knowledge, Die probably won't be able to immediately assume which of them it will be. (That could probably make for a fun guessing game in of itself)

I think a lot of it just comes down to how much exposition is required to justify their presence. They're so outside of the day-to-day reality of the show that the show has to reorient itself around them. Like, they become the defacto Main Plot every time they show up. The effort of that... I'm not sure if there's a story that'd be worth all of that effort.

"Team Rocket but kinky" is a pretty great way to describe their dynamic!

For me, this episode helped elevate them in the narrative by creating an internal tension that defined the group's hierarchy and struggles independent of the rest of the cast. Like, this story is just about Lucky Clover, and it managed to be as compelling (to me!) as a Team Faiz or Team Orphnoch story.

Much like Team Orphnoch excels by having a plot and a goal that doesn't depend on interacting with Team Faiz, this story gave Lucky Clover a spotlight that's all about Houjou's crumbling ego, Kageyama's matchmaking, Murakami's belief in solid teamwork, Sawada's desire to lose his remaining humanity in carnage, and Kitazaki's search for meaning through also carnage. The fact that there's a belt or a Rider involved is almost incidental? I really like that.

I am a-okay being this board's test subject!

Uh, holy shit that video!!! That was sick as HELL. Garo's going on my post-2021 list! Thanks for sharing that clip!

(Also, so, when Bloodborne came out did every Garo fan just start drooling at once or what.)

Yeah, like, I've seen movies from the Phase 2 Heisei shows that have definitely ruined things from Faiz for me... but I don't even know what those things are, because when I saw those movies I didn't have a context for Faiz stuff. There are probably things from this movie that are going to go right over my head. We'll see!

No problem. I will always happily spread the word of Garo. It's a show that originally aired at 1am, which gave it leeway to have more adult elements and a stronger horror theme. It's also an arena for director Keita Amemiya to cut loose and go crazy with his imaginative visual design aesthetic.

The first two series and interstitial specials/films got official blu-ray releases here in the US. Unfortunately, nothing from after the second series followed suit and the sets seem to be out of print. Fansubs are still readily available, though.

Yeah, it's the Chuck Norris of Smart Brain suits. :lolol

Die had better not be able to tell what things in the movie are actually going to be part of the series (and I will say, there's a LOT of crazy s*** in Paradise Lost that's entirely original, so it will be hard to guess), because I've been eagerly awaiting his reaction to a lot of different often spoiled plot twists in Rider history, and if he ruins that for himself because he couldn't wait a "month" to "go to the theater", that is tragic.

On an unrelated note, did you guys hear about Delta? I heard he's so amazing, he gathered 15 Eyecons in a day!

I hear Delta's so cool, he can beat Hyper Muteki.

Ugh.

UUUUGGGGGHHHH.

This stupid franchise!

So, okay, fine, the Faiz movie.

I only get one chance to watch Faiz for the first time, and I'd like to not end up regretting my choices in how things got watched. Am I colossally boning myself if I watch the movie? I'm 80% sure I want to watch the movie before Episode 29, but there has been a wall of Why Would You Do Thats, and it's starting to get to me.

Two questions:

1) Where is the optimal point to watch the movie?

2) Without getting spoilery, and assuming I even notice what everyone's so freaked out about, how much does knowing this ruin the experience of Faiz? Am I going to not be able to enjoy the next 22 episodes?

I'm not saying I'm changing my mind, but I'm looking to solicit some more opinions.

I wish I could ask Delta, though. I heard Delta is so smart, he's got two Gaia Libraries in his brain.

Personally and from what've seen most people just watch the movie after the show. And that's what I did.

I wouldn't say the spoiler would ruin your enjoyment of the upcoming episodes. But I was unfortunatly I had already known the big reveal going into the show. And I distinctly remember just waiting for the show to get to the reveal already. But like you said this is your choice and I hope me and the others aren't pressuring you into how you should watch this movie.