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TokuNation
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/index.php)
- Tokusatsu Show Discussion
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20)
- - Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Build
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95621)
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KAMEN RIDER BUILD MISCELLANY: 7 BEST MATCHES 1 - 3 https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/7best1.png Typical Build, using a total blow-off special feature to tell an in-continuity story that expands our view of a supporting cast member. I'm not sure why this show needs to work so damn hard, but I'm always glad they do. I was pretty sure this was just going to be a To Sell Toys special, spotlighting some other forms that maybe went underutilized. I was not prepared for two-thirds of it to be set during the darkest period of the show, nor was I prepared to get maybe my best look at what Utsumi's all about. Utsumi is a tough character to pin down, you know? There's almost always an angle, and no matter where you are in the series, you're maybe two episodes at most away from Utsumi betraying or being betrayed. It's sort-of his main thing. Except, as this special points out, his actual main thing is science. That's the one constant. No matter who he's working under, or for what reason, he believes in science. Not like Sento, who believes in science as a redemptive force. No, Utsumi just believes in it as a force. It's knowledge as power, and that's all it needs to be. It's because of that that he's able to see Sento not as Kamen Rider Build, as an obstacle or an enemy, but as a fellow scientist. Utsumi pities Sento a little, seeing his morality as an unfortunate handicap, but he's sincerely in awe of him as a scientist. It's what's unique about him amongst the series antagonists, that feeling that Utsumi and some version of Sento (Takumi, basically) have a ton in common and could be friends under different circumstances. There's no real affection there, not really, so it's not like Utsumi is some Other Man threat to Banjou, but it's nice that Utsumi has this unforced smile when he's doing (mad) science with Sento. It's nice to see. Setting this special mostly during the Darkest Days of Sento, I'm a little iffy on that. Episodes 21 and 22 are so perfect that, something like this, where a new story is wedged in, it can only add imperfections. I'm super glad it didn't become a televised episode, and I'm super, super glad I didn't watch these episodes until the show was done. The pacing of the end of the Hokuto War, I don't think I'd've enjoyed something this merchandise/action-oriented at that point in the show. Nothing from the episodes felt like it was crying out for clarification (never ever wondered what else Sento was up to for that missing week, didn't need to know how exactly he built the failsafe) and a story like this runs the risk of ruining something beautiful with overexplaining, but I guess there's not really a better point in the show to set this story, nor would it mean as much elsewhere. I don't love that they opted to play in this sandbox, but at least it didn't wreck the great work they did on the series. Yeah, honestly, way more meat on this bone than I'd've expected. https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/7best2.png |
The funniest part about the 7 Best Match specials is the mismatch between how they were advertised and where they sat in the show. The trailers mainly used that part at the beginning where Sento is pretending to be all excited about checking out all the new toys, so it was made to look like it'd be just a fully wacky fun thing, and we didn't know when it took place or anything. Then episode 21 happened, and they said "by the way, that thing takes place then." At the time it was just like, What? how do you have your hero kill a man and end an episode as a broken man to then go on and shill some toys? Build was some wild times
Well, they still didn't go too dark in the specials themselves, so it feels more like they knew *something* bad was gonna have to have Sento's spirits down, but nothing specific (since they mainly talk about how the general populace is blaming Riders for the war, iirc). But yeah, repeating myself (and you) here but you gotta love Build's dedication for trying to get something out of everything. Utsumi is a character that I wish could have gotten some more focus in the series, since as you say getting his character down through all the changes he goes through is difficult. Having stuff like this definitely helped some. And, while not super character-relevant, bringing the SameBike stuff back for Utsumi's final fight in the show was a nice touch, too, as a sort of capstone moment, to both Build's dedication to continuity and Utsumi existing I guess. |
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Utsumi is a character I generally enjoy, and there's, like, three points in the series where I think he's really pivotal, a way of exploring some concepts that don't map great to other characters, and a way to comment on Sento's story. It's just, he is always switching teams. If he was just an opportunist, hitching onto whatever team is winning, that'd be one thing, but it's hard to say that that's his character. "Survival" is what I think of when it comes to opportunistic characters, and that doesn't feel like Utsumi to me. He intensely believes in Nanba, and he always believes in science, but often those traits are obscured so he can have another inevitable betrayal. He's, yeah, kind-of problematic as a character. Quote:
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SameBike, in general, is amazing and I'm super mad it isn't one of Build's main Best Matches. It's-- you're a Kamen Rider! You have a bike form! This should be natural!
It even swaps the colours of his main form (the inorganic tank and organic shark are blue; the organic rabbit and inorganic bike are red), so I feel it would have been super cool. Ah well. I'll just enjoy what we get in this special :p |
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KAMEN RIDER BUILD MISCELLANY: ROGUE 1 - 3
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/rogue1.png Rogue was an interesting series, or special, or whatever. Not strictly necessary, there's nothing in it that answers some mystery from the series, I can't think it's anyone's favorite Build thing, but it's worth watching for a few good jokes (entirely in the first episode) and for a comprehensive, if slightly miserabilist and brutal, look at Gentoku's evolution/devolution into Kamen Rider Rogue. I've said before that I like the Tragic Rider archetype. A misguided villain who reforms into a hero, that's always got some juice in it. Why did they decide to pursue villainy? What lengths will they go to? What is their goal? How do they view the Riders? What's a line they won't cross? What makes them team with the heroes? What's the final moment when they turn their back on evil? How do they atone for their villainous past? I love that shit. The Rogue specials don't hit all of those points, but they drill into two for Gentoku: What lengths will he go to, and what is his goal? Through the show and these specials, it's demonstrated that the thing Gentoku always wants, be it when he's deranged because of Pandora's Box or when he's deranged because of what he did because of Pandora's Box, is for Touto to be strong. What's interesting to me from these specials is how his goal doesn't change, but his motivation does. In the first episode, he's motivated by pride. Touto needs to be strong, and he's the one to make it strong. He's the most capable, most prepared, most dedicated. With enough power, he can be the one to unite the nation and Make Touto Great Again. That ends up not working out (understatement!), and he's reduced to a prisoner, getting the shit kicked out of him like clockwork by a filth-encrusted maniac. Here, his motivation changes into, of all things, certainty. He is going to survive this, he is going to become a Kamen Rider, he is going to retake Touto. It's not faith, it's not a belief, it's destiny. Nothing can hurt him, nothing is going to stop him. It's inevitable. And it is! He withstands, he triumphs, he gets his shot at being a Kamen Rider. In the final episode, his motivation crystallizes into determination. He sees the costs of choices, he understands what he's done, and he accepts it. This is who he is, this is what he needs to do. No apologies, just results. This is who Kamen Rider Rogue is. Obviously, the character keeps growing in the show (it's Build, no one stays the same), but these specials end up being a nice snapshot of the first half of Gentoku's story. It's, again, nothing we didn't already know. There's nothing in here that changes our view of Gentoku or his story. It's a lot of dot-connecting and blank-filling. The few new characters who appear are 100% going to die, you know it as soon as you see them. It's still entertaining, if not wildly so. Most of the last two episodes are just wallowing in the abuse of Gentoku, and a little of that goes a long way. The first one has some good gags, all of that karaoke stuff is priceless (he's a really bad singer), the fact that he takes one last spoonful of strawberry parfait before he leaves to stop Takumi's illegal human experimentation, I mean, chef's kiss. It's not the funniest version of Gentoku the series has to offer, but there's at least a few flashes in here. But I respected what these specials were trying to do, in taking some swings at how Gentoku's descent into brutality and rage happened. I'd've liked to have it end on a bit of an up-note, some indication that redemption was possible, but I guess that's not what they were trying to do. On its own terms, I had a fine time with the Rogue specials. Not a home run, but more Gentoku is always welcome. https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/rogue2.png |
When I got to these misc extra bits for Build, I watched all three Rogue episodes and then the Hyper Battle DVD right afterwards. It really was like a truncated take of where his character started then ended. Was still incredible to go so quickly from watching a someone get his throat ripped apart by gears, to an alien performing magic tricks.
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KAMEN RIDER BUILD MISCELLANY: FINAL STAGE
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/stage1.png A super-meta Build stage show is maybe the most perfect thing to watch after the violent, moody Rogue specials. It's not difficult viewing, it's easy to let it just wash over you. It's the dessert after a heavy meal. I don't know why, after 49 episodes of television, two movies, two HBVs, six additional specials, and four toy commercials, but I'm still surprised when Build goes the extra mile to tie some bit of fluff into its continuity, and makes use of whatever dumb format they have to work in. There's no reason for this stage show to work canonically with the end of Build, but it does. There's no reason to make the audience an actual character in the stage show, but they do. There's no reason to make it so goddamn good, but they did. It's almost frustrating how fun and joyful this stage show is. What could possibly live up to this in the future? I mean, okay, I don't want to oversell it. This is still a stage show, and it's aimed very young. It isn't really trying to do much more than have a bunch of fights between suit actors. But, even within that framework, there's nearly everything I loved about Build. All the suits look great. The fights are pretty fun. The use of projection screens and lasers is well done. Character relationships are vibrant and clear. And it's just stupidly funny. Here's some highlights: https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan1.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan2.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan3.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan4.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan5.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan6.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan7.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan8.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/miitan9.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/banjou1.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/banjou2.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/banjou3.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/banjou4.png For what's a 40-something minute thing to distract children, Final Stage was a lot of fun. The cast translates to the stage so well, and the producers seemed to have so much fun with the format. I'm glad I didn't end up missing this one. https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/stage2.png |
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the first episode of the original series, the first 17 episodes of Faiz, The First/The Next movies, the first episode of Wizard, the first 24 episodes of Zi-O, and all of Zero-One so far. I really need to finish Faiz someday. Got burned out by what a bastard Kusaka was, and from what I hear, I've barely scratched the surface of his horribleness. Ryuki is my second favorite series, after Build. I'll be very excited to see what you think of it when you get to it. I also love Eiji from what I've seen of him in some of the crossovers, so I imagine OOO will be a favorite when I get to it. Kabuto's next on my list to watch though, after I eventually finish Faiz |
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Yeah, I'm also looking forward to Ryuki. At my current pace (subject to change with no notice!), I might hit it in January? |
Have you done Den-O yet? It's suddenly rocketed up in my list of what to watch, thanks to getting some figures from it from a friend who visited Japan and wasn't sure what Rider stuff I was specifically into. I know it's crazy popular in Japan, and that Kobayashi is an incredible writer, so I'm excited. I'll probably slot it between Kabuto and OOO
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KAMEN RIDER BUILD NEW WORLD: CROSS-Z
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...rldcrossz1.png God, I thought this came out great. They managed to 100% get me on board with this story, despite it undoing a big chunk of the ending of Build, as well as relitigating yet again how ambivalent the citizenry was of the Kamen Riders. I still loved it! Right up front, though, I know I shouldn't love this story. It takes the ending of Build and unspools a bunch of the consequences, setting up more fights for characters that already achieved their victory. It's sort-of what I complained about back when I rewatched Ex-Aid True Ending, that it's to the shows' credit that they end. The constant exploitation of a series to feed a ravenous fanbase, it's not what I like about Kamen Rider as a franchise. But! I thought this worked, and I'm not totally certain why. Some if it is that I felt like Build's ending went too far, destroying a family dynamic that I'd come to love. In just a couple of scenes, everyone's back together, cracking wise and fighting for each other. It's so welcome that I don't really mind that it takes away from the TV finale, because this makes me feel better. Similarly, I don't care so much that Evol(t) is back, because Evol(t) is great. Killbas is awesome, and I'll talk about him in a bit, but Evol(t) is outstanding. It's a bit dodgy that he just up and leaves at the end (although I guess nearly getting eliminated from existence might make you give Team Build a wide berth), but obviously there's more of these specials coming, there's a chance his story isn't over. I can't be too mad at this series of specials because of shit like that, how they know that what makes this series work is all of these characters bouncing off of each other, and they're all so good at it that they could probably do these forever. Maybe it's just my fondness for the TV series clouding my judgment, but I just responded so emotionally to these characters having more adventures that I couldn't bring myself to scold them for coming back. It helps that the story is so good. This is the "Kamen Riders are hated by the public" story that the show kept feinting at but never delivered, at least with a specificity that I thought it required. This isn't some mind-control plot by some lunatic, or a stray news report we're just supposed to accept. This is someone's life that was destroyed because of Kamen Riders. Yui's story is relatable, and probably all too common. The Kamen Riders were doing battle constantly, and it's reasonable that one of them, especially Banjou, might not notice a group of civilians in danger. It's horrifying that Yui was experimented on, tortured, immolated. It makes sense that she'd harbor a grudge, that she'd have no faith in Banjou or the others to save people. It's not her being mean to characters who tried and failed, it's someone who got ignored and suffered fatally for it. Worse, not only does she bear the scars of the old world, but all of the kids she tried to protect are comatose. She's right to be mad at Kamen Riders! They pretty much dropped the ball on this one! It's the best idea to have this story land on Banjou's shoulders, since it doesn't seem as likely to wreck him as a similar storyline did to Sento in Be The One. Banjou's growth, his many But Why Heroism speeches, were a central part of his character. Yui's story isn't some shock, it's the natural consequence of his life. He was a fighter, he fought for his friends, he didn't understand why you'd fight for anyone you didn't know. It's now, in the aftermath of the TV series, that he's able to see his failures, to try and atone. It's maybe the perfect story to do in an epilogue movie. It's not a new road he's on, it's the culmination of all he's experienced. He's learned his lessons, he's paid for his mistakes, he's ready for his reward. Amongst other things, that reward is a slick new suit. Cross-Z Evol is gorgeous, a great melding of the Cross-Z dragon motif and the stark black-and-white Evol coloring and circles, with some killer blue and pink pops of color. I've always liked the Wizard-style coat/skirt on suits, and Cross-Z Evol wears it so well. It's definitely in my top three Cross-Z suits. Kamen Rider Killbas, didn't love the suit that much (too many spider legs restricting movement, the red needed to be broken up more along the torso) but he's an awesome movie villain. Style for miles, and great physicality. (The fact that Killbas moved like Shinsuke Nakamura for the whole movie? Killed me. I am dead.) This was a dude where, when Evol(t) goes "He's my brother," I was like, "I can see that." It's a bit of a narrative shortcut, villain-wise, to just do What If Evol(t) But More, but it's also incredibly effective. It not only immediately establishes stakes, in that this dude is worse than the dude we just spent 49 episodes watching Team Build fight, but it allows Evol(t) to join the heroes in a classic The Enemy Of My Enemy Killed My Parents And Is Just A Total Asshole And He's Definitely Going To Try To Kill Us Again Soon But FINE Let's Team Up. Evol(t) joining Team Build is something you can't really do more than once (they sort-of did it in Be The One, but not nearly to this extent), and I think they got everything out of it here. He's funny, casually cruel, and he still hates everybody, but his weirdly effective torturing/mentoring is key to victory. It's a great use of the character. The rest of the cast was fairly backgrounded here, but I'm sure they'll all get a turn in the spotlight. Everyone was great, though. Everyone got a little moment. It's great hanging out with these weirdos and their weird family again. I like this new world. It feels like home. https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...rldcrossz2.png I think that's for now for me and Build? I don't have anything else to watch for this series, at least until the Grease movie drops in December or whatever. Huh. Feels weird. Weird to be done with Build. You guys! Thanks for reading all this. Feel free to respond to this thread if you've got stuff to say, I'll keep an eye on it. I'll probably watch the Ex-Aid stage show (that I just found recently) some time later this week, and that'll land in the "Kamen Rider Die rewatches Kamen Rider Ex-Aid movies" thread for lack of a better place. Then, I don't know, like a week or so off from watching Kamen Rider? I like to take at least some time between series, or they blur together too much. I've got a couple non-series specific discussion questions I might drop on the boards, to keep active, plus I'm legit curious about how other fans feel about a couple things. After that, it's time for Masked Rider Kuuga. I'll see you around! https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...uildfinale.png |
Ok, I'll just throw in my opinion on Build as a series here.
It's a good and well-written story, for the most part, just one that didn't manage to engage me. Sento is a fine character, I just never felt all that connected to him and that's the reason, even though I really like Banjo, a lot of their scenes left me only with, that is nice. Through I have an idea of what people felt in thei relationship because I probably felt the same thing in the relationship between Sougo and Geiz in ZI-O. Evolt was a blast, even if he stretched things out in the end. Grease and Rough, on the other hand, are harder to judge, there is nothing particularly wrong with them, but oh boy are there problems for me. It feels like most of their story was wasted when they were just "the bad guy" and nothing interesting was done with them after the fact, doesn't help that I found grease one of the most boring characters in Kamen Rider for me. I mean, Rough's goal of wanting to make the land a better place through his father was interesting and I wondered how that would affect him after the death of him, but that didn't really happen, which is just sad. And I'm not a fan of the supporting cast, Sawa is just so there that I often forget about her and Misora is, in my opinion, one of the worst Rider-Girls out there. She is the opposite of emotional support and most often just makes everything worse. I really grew to hate her. Build was a series with a really strong start, but everything after just lost my interest really damn fast until I just didn't care anymore. It still ended up on rank 12 of my Kamen Rider list, but still, there could have been so much more. But I enjoyed this thread a lot, maybe I'll try to be more active in the next one. |
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Like a lot of art, the relationships on Build either work for you or they don't. If you had a negative reaction (Misora, which, not my experience, she's the MVP of the show to me) or no reaction (Banjou and Sento's friendship), I'm not sure anyone in the world can or should try to change your mind. I could list all of the reasons I feel differently, in fact I'm pretty sure I spent a few weeks doing just that, but that's just my feelings, and nothing you should have to take into account. I guess the problem for Build more than other Rider shows is how much you need to care about the cast, specifically Sento and Banjou, for it to work. Fourze had the same thing, I think. If you don't care about the heroes, the main cast, nothing that happens in the series is going to matter. The relevance to anything happening is how it makes the characters change. If you don't care about them, and you don't care how they change, it's just a lot of brightly-colored suits punching each other until one of them explodes. But, yeah, sincerely, thanks! It's cool to see what other people got out of this series. |
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Minor suggestion but maybe for the next ten shows you do, you might consider just doing it all in one thread? Might be easier for you or others to sort through for future reference or just for fun
Anyhow, I'm happy you liked Cross-Z New World, especially since I very much did not, for basically all the reasons you mentioned. I love this cast, and I think that just made how much the story faltered even worse for me. And there had to been a bunch of ways to bring Evolt back without just literally reviving him wholesale and worst still, just letting him go off to no doubt destroy other planets. Anyway, it's enjoyable to read your review/thoughts/essays. It's probably redundant of me to say that so often, but it's really all I can think to type when I don't have questions in mind. The only other input I feel there is to add is what my own opinion on these shows were, and I try not to go too far because this is your thread and I'm not looking to either parrot at you or to debate differing stances. |
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Especially Haruto. There's a nonchalance to his personality that makes him fun to watch, whether he's snarking at villains, making wisecracks with his friends, or even just munching on donuts. I also feel there's a lot going on with his character under the surface that's really interesting, but above all else Haruto is great because he's extremely dedicated to saving people as Wizard. It's the one thing he consistently takes seriously, and it kind of anchors the whole show in a way. I'm probably not making much sense here, but I could go on like this for ages. Maybe later I'll try this again, but it probably won't be any more coherent. :p |
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So, I think one of the things every piece of media needs to know is what it wants to be. A story with intriguing and plot twists up the ass, a slice of life show, etc., etc. Wizard did know what it wanted to be really early on, a monster of the week show that examined the concept of hope, what forms it takes, what is destructive hope, how hope changes and how people refuse to give it up and together with that the concept of depression. I personally am more a fan of slower-paced, filler heavy series because you just get to see the characters in smaller, more diverse situations and Wizard has a lot of episodes that still stick in my head, like the Christmas episode with the orphan buying presents, the episode with the baker who didn't want his apprentice to lose his job, the episode with the man mourning his dead wife, the episode where the Phantom tortured the woman by letting everyone hate her, Beasts grandma, Beasts old friend and the money, Haruto's old teacher and the toy plane, or the old football buddy of Haruto, so many good ones that just stuck in my head. Wizard is a series filled with great two-parters and I think it did that because it knew exactly what it wanted to be. That can also be seen in the Summer Movie which is an absolute blast. I also adore the characters, especially Haruto who has managed to weasel his ring into my heart as my favorite Kamen Rider. I like how he appears on the outside, this confident, nonchalant guy who is so determined to save people. And I adore him, even more, when one looks past that shell of his, revealing an absolutely broken man plagued by survivors' guilt for the death of his family and the Sabbath. A man that only thinks his life is worth anything if he can be the hope of someone else. A man who whenever he is knocked down will only stand up stronger. A man that over the course of the show manages to learn to accept the things that happened and can even let go of those he can't save and still finds a place for them in his memories, in one of the best epilogues in Kamen Rider history. Nitoh is also a great character, someone who is at first only out for himself that quickly learns to take his job as a Rider almost as serious as Haruto. I'm also a fan of his big risk, big reward lifestyle. Just a very cool character and one of the only things Wisemen didn't account for, and what ultimately foils his plans together with the power forged by Haruto. The supporting cast is fine, never annoyed me all that much, minus a certain bird episode, Rinko remains useful throught the show through her connection to Section Zero, Shunpei doesn't annoy me, Wajima is nice enough. Koyomi is the character that is the least fleshed out, but ultimately her plot points still work well enough, even if I wish she would have had more to do. The three Mages are also fine, through Mayu stands out as a really cool character that maybe should have gotten a bit more to do, but still rocks. The villains are all good, Medusas twisted hope of being acknowledged by Wisemen, Phoenix hopes for mayhem, and of course the ever despicable Gremlin with his hope of becoming a human again. A human monster in the skin of a Phantom, a great inverse of Haruto and really everything he stands for, tied down by the past and willing to sacrifice anyone for himself. Oh, and Wisemen, god do I feel bad for him, he is just a father who wants his daughter back but goes way too far. His plan was quite good and only broken through things he couldn't have known. All in all, this is why I love this series so much, but if you want anotherone talking about it, I have a great video for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8oaihgCHw |
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Is it time, six years on, for Wizard to get some love? I've been waiting for this day.
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Wizard is a series I've definitely appreciated more as time's gone on, but one that's still not amazing for me so it's like, mid-tier. Down there with Decade and Ryuki. Still pretty good and fun, just not quite on the level of stuff like W and Ex-Aid.
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I don't disagree that some of the New World movie shortcuts things, and, yeah, they just let Evol(t) leave like it's nothing, huh? I mean, they just left Sawa in a crashed car with a concussion while they celebrated, so they were not making the best decisions that day. In fairness, Banjou was in charge then, not Sento, the smart one, so this is more or less what you're going to get. Quote:
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There were still things I dug, though. My absolute favorite (non-Net Movie) Wizard thing was the Phoenix origin two-parter. All three of the lieutenant origin episodes were highlights, but the Phoenix two-parter was maybe my favorite story Wizard did. It's built on the back of a classic hero story, where Rinko sees the frustration Phoenix is experiencing and, thinking it's his humanity being trampled on by Wiseman and Medusa, encourages him to leave them behind, leave their schemes behind, and be true to himself. Do what makes him happy, instead of following their orders. And then its got the best ever twist, when Rinko finds out that what makes Phoenix happy is slaughtering innocents, and Wiseman and Medusa were ordering him to not indiscriminately kill people. And Rinko just pep-talked him into ignoring them. It's a super-solid story with an all-time great twist. |
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One of my few regrets with Wizard is that her Mage costume wasn't at least a different color than the others or something. She deserved so much better than a generic mook suit recycled wholesale from the movie. |
So if I found the first episode of Wizard boring, though pretty stylish, would you guys recommend giving it a second chance, or would I probably find my same problems with the first episode sticking along the whole time?
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Luckily, even for folks who didn't like much of Wizard, it definitely has some strong episodes, and the middle section with Beast is a breath of fresh air. Also, it's a ton of work to get there, but the ending is a pretty great finale to the season-long arc. I don't know if the show really changes, though, so much as it papers over some weaker elements with more interesting characters and cool twists. I mean, I found Haruto dull in the beginning, and I found him slightly-less-dull-but-still-pretty-dull at the end. Like I said, though, tough call. If you're not into it for the first dozen-or-so episodes, I don't know. Maybe watch a show you'll like better? |
Cool, I'll probably finish it at some point. It would feel weird to leave part of the Heisei era incomplete permanently. It's just not one I'm in a rush to get to.
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KAMEN RIDER BUILD NEW WORLD: GREASE
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/nwgrease1.png I… Oh my God, I remembered none of these people. There was definitely a spinning up of my Build memories at the beginning of this one, trying to remember what the hell was going on and where people had been left and what their storylines were and who the hell was Takumi again (no joke, when Buildad mentioned him, I’m like, who?) and just, like, 90% of Build. I feel like I should have reread this thread to bring myself back up to speed. I got there, though. It all pretty much came back. (I even got jokes and callbacks, like Sawa’s “It’s better if you don’t know.”) It’s like riding a bike, but in this case the bike is a 49-episode TV series I watched less than six months ago. I’m… you know, I’m not sure I should’ve had this difficult of a time remembering Kamen Rider Build. Low level troubling! Anyway, this movie! It’s maybe a huge disadvantage for New World: Kamen Rider Grease to kick off with the short film “I Heard the Idol Otaku is Dating His Fav”, since that goddamn thing killed me. Much like (my memories of) the HBV Prime Rogue short, this is unmitigated comedy, with Kazumin at his most problematic (I’m not sure him being an obsessed lunatic is as much a cute thing as this movie seems to consider it) and Misora instantly regretting trying to connect with him as a human being. It’s slight, it’s really just jokes and a setup for Grease and the Crows hiding on an island until Kazumin can face his New World of heartbreak, but it’s so fan-servicey and ridiculous that any serious story is going to feel misguided afterwards. Like a lot of fans, I assume, I’d’ve been okay if they stretched this short out to full-length. It’s not that the movie itself was bad, though. It was good! It was not great! But it was good! There’s a thing in the Uraga character that felt… not undeveloped, but more like it was underutilized. Uraga’s a guy who longs for the old world, the flames and terror and violence. He doesn’t see a place for himself in this New World, so he’d just as soon burn it down into something that feels familiar. He’s a Phantom in this world, roaming and isolated. He lacks connections, and he can’t let go of the past. That’s a solid character (I don’t feel like the actor did much with it, though), and honestly, a great villain for an epilogue. The story he wants to be in is over, and he can’t see that. He wants to wind things back to how it used to be, instead of moving on and making a new life. The problem for me is, so much of the climax of the film hits the lack of connections, but it ignores all of the Phantom stuff that feels like it’s right there. The heroic speech lands on Kazumin’s friends, and a weirdly generic Kamen Riders Fight To Protect Us All spirit, but it feels like the similarities and differences between Kazumin and Uraga, that stuff doesn’t feel like it’s integrated that well. As a villain, making Uraga’s whole thing But He Doesn’t Have Friends Like The Crows… I don’t feel like it’s enough for a movie. If they’d hit some deeper levels, or tied the hero and villain together more, I think it could get to that next level, the heights Build could hit as a show. This one, what looked to be some interesting thematic work ended up just being the Kazumin Fights For His People Not His Country story we’d already seen play out on the show. And, yeah, for a movie that felt like it was partially telling a story about being trapped in the past, and choosing old conflicts because they feel safer than living in peace, it’s weird how repetitive it seemed. Like, you can say it’s callbacks or whatever, but a lot of this movie is rehashing moments we’d already seen. Metal Build, I mean, it’s Hazard Form, I love that goddamn suit, but we saw an incredible arc of Build where Hazard Form kills a Crow and draws Grease’s hatred. Doing a riff on that for the middle section of this movie, but doing it without the sick shame of Sento at its core… I’m not sure that’s a comparison you want to invite on your story. Not going to look great playing those notes. Using the Crows’ death and then swerving it, I don’t know. I thought they’d swerve it, I didn’t think they’d be dumb enough to just kill the Crows again, but that means that a lot of Kazumin’s reaction felt hollow, and the whole scheme felt overly manipulative of Sento. He gaslighted that dude into thinking three of his friends had died. I don’t… that’s like Evol(t) shit. Like the Miitan obsession, I don’t think it’s as cute as the story thinks it is. In general, I was surprised how little new story this movie felt like it was telling. I love these characters, I’ll spend as much time with them as I’m allowed, but so much of this movie felt like it was retreading ground, and that’s a bummer. I didn’t need a movie to tell me that Grease draws strength from his friends, that he fights to protect them, and that he’s got an unhealthy obsession with Misora. (HE WANTED TO DRESS HER UP LIKE MIITAN ON THEIR FIRST DATE.) All of that was in the Build TV show, where it had room to breathe and ways to surprise. This, I know where that story goes, and I don’t really need to have it retold if there’s no new ways of telling it. I don’t want it to seem like this movie didn’t work at all, though. Like I said, it was good. The new suits looked great. Phantom Build has a great Military aesthetic to it, with the army green locking in well with the black base suit. Grease Perfect Kingdom, I think it’s tricky to have all primary colors in one design, but the way they all cluster around the head and shoulders kept it from being too garish and/or distracting. And, fake-out or not, I like the idea of a Kazumin suit that’s all about the strength his friends provide. That’s such a core part of his character and his arc, so it’s nice to have it signified visually. So, look, I think this movie has problems. I think it suffers from a lack of ambition in its storytelling, and it misses some opportunities to get at new and fresh concepts. But it’s a Build movie, so it’s full of great characters doing character-driven things, wrapped up in some fun fights and top-shelf humor. (Sento forgot Utsumi for three-quarters of the film! Sawa and Gentoku have couples t-shirts to tell people that they banged! Grease and the Crows went for a soak on an irradiated island because the hero of the movie had his heart broken!) Every Kamen Rider gets to Henshin, and the big explosive climax is centered around Peace and Love defeating the horrors of war. Even when it’s not great, it’s still exciting and funny and very very Build. I just know they can be great, so it’s a shame when it isn’t. https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/nwgrease2.png |
Ah, the series that aired on my TV and recently ended. I missed some part due to schedules but here we go. I have to give it to Build for instantly jumping to the plot from the beginning like Banjou's fugitive status and Sento's past and searching it out to Faust. I also have to say Build's Rider henshins are my favorites with the visual aesthetics for "armor engineering".
What if the true Shotaro/Philip mechanic was....Sento and Katsuragi?! "We are two scientists/Kamen Riders in one". Both are foils to each other where Sento befriends others, adapted through Build Station, and wants to protect humanity, but Katsuragi sees others as tools, unable to handle Build's more powerful forms, and only focused on destroying Evolt. Sento is when Kuroto is a total goody-two-shoes (he has a bit narcissm but he wants nothing more than doing good and helping everyone). Sento also lowkey looks like Taiga. Banjou's first name is Ryuga, and his Rider form has a kick where a Dragon burns the Rider's legs to kick....is this a coincidence?! His Cross-Z Magma form gives me Agito Burning form vibe. I thought at first Banjou is the one suffering the most with fugitive status, turns out Sento matches/surprasses him in that. I have to commend him for doing much fighting in human form against multiple enemies (One of the few cases was Alain in Ghost). Misora as Mii-tan immediately reminds me of Poppy, especially that it's from previous season. They created 2 heroines with secret idol persona back-to-back. Sawa was more than just a reporter who is a KR fangirl (and a promoted one to help them and stay in nascita), being a spy to Namba. Why Grease's human form has almost similar name to Banjou's dead girlfriend?? (Kazumi, Kasumi). Did Banjou even realise that? He calls Grease Kazumi. So as Cross-Z has fire/magma themed upgrade form, Grease goes for the opposite for ice-themed Blizzard form. Gentoku's the most varied character for sure with many roles he assumed like being Night Rogue, the scheming leader, then exiled and finally as current Kamen Rider Rogue on heroes' side. And wtf with him goofing around with horrendous fashion sense that time. Utsumi always seemed creepy and unsettling to me from the beginning even when he was calm (his glasses doesn't help), comes full force when joining Evolt. Though he's not as evil as it seems (backstabbing Evolt), the heroes still seemingly doesn't care for him at his death (deservingly so tho). Evolt is the "your important figure is the mastermind all along" villain in form of Soichi Isurugi aka hipster dad. I've always prefered Build design wise to others (for Genius the bottles in the eye kinda ruins the looks). The other one I liked are Rogue and Cross-Z Magma perhaps. Genius form sure cannot match the villain (Evolt) most of the time which seems a wasted upgrade. What I dislike is that its stats aren't superior to FullBottle forms. Gold Rabbit and Silver Dragon hilariously canonize the "Sento and Banjou are best match" gag like the Ep. 1 title and it's used even in the "back to base form" final fight with degrading Build and Evolt powers. |
Dang! A lot there to unpack! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. A couple things I want to pull out:
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Hey, thanks for sharing all of that! Build was a great show, and it's awesome to see people getting so much out of it. |
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But, yeah, no, your views on Build are real good. They were fun to think about again! Quote:
Still, it doesn't strike me as an unreasonable request. People can always not use it if they aren't into it. It's something that'd take more than a minute to do, though, so I'd probably not be able to tackle it until the post-Ryuki break. So, like, end of April/beginning of May? Something like that? I'll definitely give it a shot. Thanks for the feedback! |
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