Oh? Surprised no one talked about one of my absolute favorite parts of the episode: Kaixa's phone ringing while being attached to the belt. That juxtaposition between the mundane and the fantastical. That's exactly what this show is all about.

I mean, you did ask about why Takumi's the chosen one, the one that can be Faiz, while Mari and Keitaro can't. This is the answer. Though for the others you mentioned like Kusaka, you aren't that wrong either. And you saying the protagonist should have standard protagonist strength that Keitaro lacks? It's all clear now! Takkun's an Orphnoch! Which gives him some strength even in human form to knock off some Orphnochs before!

The plot kicks into high gear for this one. Mari's body being presumed not normal, and that both are working their big plan while Kusaka cancels. Takumi tries a risky move to revive Mari by, trying to make use of the evil organization, and also, well, revealing that he's Wolf Orphnoch (Takumi Inui). And finally, Yuji now understands, what Takumi means by his fault that Mari's dead, from Keitaro. He meant that Takumi's fault is blaming himself for not being able to protect her, not that Takumi directly attacked her like Cucksaka informed. I wonder if Takumi's aware that he's an Orphnoch, all this time, I thought that Takumi never knew that he's an Orphnoch but he got to know via something.

Because Takumi is an actual hero (anti-hero is still hero but more in grey), while Kusaka isn't. He just happens to have a racism towards those that deserved it (Orphnochs), which is a good thing, but his reasons are all selfish, he's not bluffing that he said battles are only a test to him. Though I don't know for his love being Kaixa/destroying Smart Brain transcends his love to Mari you talk about here.

It's some twist that Teruo is actually being ungrateful brat to Kaido that he didn't do something that he can't. Though for real, keep remember the kid! He's gotta be so important for later, he's not a guest star like Keiko. Also for Mihara, him wanting to avoid the unecessary danger and bullshit in life makes sense, but unfortunately, that trait of his, being a "total coward", garners him a quite sizable hatedom.

Probably because the last couple episodes, infuriating as it is, Mari and Kusaka's been in touch with the Ryusei School kids all this time, so obviously they gotta know if Mari's been in hospital that they keep contacting each other previously.

Actually I was more intrigued by his capabilities as a monster, because it's so unknown to me, like he's not playable in the PS2 game. Honestly he has more unique abilities like the blue energy, the sting tongue, and rose projectiles.

After years of people turning their noses up at Faiz, it is a real joy to read so many positive thoughts and feelings about one of my favorite Rider shows. I hope the eventual Kabuto and Kiva threads get this kind of love.

It is so Faiz to have Delta be the guy who maybe least wants to be a Kamen Rider of anyone I've ever seen on a Kamen Rider show.

It's a very fun twist, but I can't really blame anyone for talking about it like it's not a twist. There's a statute of limitations to Big Twists, and after that time limit is up they become part of the basic description. Like, I imagine it'd be tough for most fans to describe Faiz without mentioning that Takumi's an Orphnoch. I get it.

Still, hey, thanks everybody for letting me discover it on my own! You're all the best!

I mean, it definitely feels like the show was saying The Faiz Belt Was Made To Work For Orphnochs, but then Kusaka used it? So either, no, that's not how it works, or Kusaka is an Orphnoch, too. Mysteries abound!

I... yeah, I'm curious if that's how it's going to feel to me? Once it gets a little deeper into the story? Because what's here, it doesn't so much feel like This Was Done To Me, as it is What Of Me Do I Want People To See. Those are... those are two different stories with very different emotional payloads!

I laughed at that scene, for sure. Was he keeping his phone locked in the case the whole time. What if he'd actually given all of the Gear to Smart Brain, would he not have a phone anymore?

Huh! I wouldn't have considered that. I'm excited to find out what Takumi's backstory is!

Kamen Rider's a real fun franchise! It's awesome to be able to talk about it with others! Good work, everybody!

Inui means "dry", actually. Inu is dog, but I've never been sure how intentional the phonetic similarities are? I'm leaning toward it being a coincidence.

Hey, I talked about the entire series without ever once directly mentioning it, and the fact that apparently ARE fans out there who don't know this already makes me feel very glad I made that decision!

Also, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that fact never comes up in Takumi's reappearances in Kamen Rider Taisen and the like? Which, if I'm not just forgetting something (it was maybe in Kamen Rider 4?), serious props to Toei for not just defining his entire character by that one big twist.

Everybody was very cool about keeping the Takkun: Orphnoch! reveal under wraps. I really appreciate it!

It 100% does not come up in any of his Phase 2 movie appearances that I can recall. A lot of that stuff went over my head (there's some Big Emotions that Takumi is grappling with as a Legend Rider that would spoil this series for me... if I could remember who they were about), but I feel like A Kamen Rider Who Turns Into A Giant White Dog Monster would, you know, stick in my memory.

I guess you're ready for this image now?

https://i.imgur.com/Am01HP7.jpg

Mari reviving as an Orphenoch would've been interesting, just to see how Kusaka would deal with that. Her death hit him hard enough but if the girl he wanted and failed to protect came back as one of the monsters he wants to destroy, it might break him.

I love how last episode you were like "I don't want to talk about cliffhanger" and now you can barely talk about anything except the cliffhanger. I understand though. Mari's death was a major escalation of the plot, but Takumi being an Orphenoch is something else! Nevertheless, I'm glad you were able to find some meaning to Mari's death.

Remember how Orphenochs have hypersensitivity? Kiba can see further and hear louder. Kaido can detect scents. Takumi is a nekojita and his hands are apparently sensitive to heat as well. It might just be a quirk he's always had though, considering Saya was a human and a nekojita. But it might not!

I'm sure Kusaka enjoys being powerful, but he also seemed burdened by that power when he was angrily throwing the Gears out of Side Basshar. It's more like he needs to be Kaixa. He wants to destroy Smart Brain, not help them, even if it means he can't be with Mari. This is another rare moment where he's sympathetic. Mari's death has only fueled his hatred of Smart Brain and his primary goal is no longer to protect Mari. He wants to avenge her.

Takumi was desperate. He was determined to bring her back to life no matter what. Kusaka couldn't go through with his plan and that meant he was now the only one who was willing to do it. Until now, he had kept his Orphenoch nature a secret from everybody out of shame, but this time he needed to become the monster once more.

It adds a whole new layer of meaning to his interaction with Orphenochs. Like Kiba, Takumi wants to hold on to his humanity but he fears that someday he'll turn bad like Sawada and betray the people he cares about. He sees the sins of his kind as a reflection of himself and what he might become which is why he wants to believe that they can be good.

Murakami implied before what it means to be compatible with the Gears when he expressed confusion at why there were humans who could use them, referring to Takumi and Kusaka. Delta was an unfinished prototype, so the Ryusei School guys who used it don't count. With the reveal of Takumi being an Orphenoch, that just leaves Kusaka, the anomaly, the only Ryusei School guy with proven compatibility.

I actually thought they already explained why Kusaka can use the belt. Let's just say that the Faiz and Kaixa belts are only supposed to be usable by Orphanochs, but there may or may not be a loophole. The Delta belt has no such restrictions though.

Fantastic.

Along those lines, I spent a minute last night trying to find a screencap of Keitaro saying Takkun Orphnoch. I didn't want to scrub through a crazy amount of episodes (it was bedtime for sure), so I just typed Takkun Orphnoch into Google. Holy shit am I glad I didn't do that before watching Episode 34, since 90% of the image results were of Takumi's Orphnoch form. That... I would not have expected that search to generate a spoiler!

Yeah, but I think the problem would've been that it would be another plot that Takumi's on the outside of. Great for Kusaka, dramatically, not so great for Takumi.

I think the difference for me, with the two cliffhangers, was that Mari's felt very much like a plot concern, while Takumi's is a story concern.

(I'm going to explain this badly.)

With a plot concern, the energy is all in How Are They Going To Fix This. It's not so much about the effect it has on the characters, normally. That didn't end up being how the show played it in the follow-up, so there was more to dig into. But in general, those sorts of cliffhangers are something I can only really comment on after they've been resolved.

A story concern, it's a lot more interesting to think about or speculate on. Reveals, twists, that sort of thing. The idea of what a development means for the story is more interesting to me than How Will The Hero Survive or whatever.

I don't know if that makes any sense!

I am so incredibly into this show getting into topics like Identity and Shame and Societal Pressure and Acceptance. Very excited!