Can definitely relate there. My Ultraman Trigger FF series started out with multiple POVs for every story, but after Hudram debuted, I made him the POV character because I related way too much to his frustration at things going off book. Which has unfortunately turned it from a weekly updates series to a “updates whenever Hudram does anything” series.

The main problem with putting more of Hikawa's cheerful self-loathing into AR Shouichi is that it would probably come off too comedic, as Hikawa often could in Agito. (I mean, I really started to enjoy Hikawa once the show let him get weird and pathetic.) That's fine for a longer run, and for a slightly less central hero, but I don't think it would work for this two-part story about regret and sacrifice that desperately needs Shouichi to be a furnace of resentment at a world that robbed him of happiness.

I really love that we got almost a week from me posting about the Agito episodes before I went Wait There Were FOUR Riders On Agito. No love for Another Agito from the makers of Decade, I guess!

It always feels a bit like a dick move to criticize Den-O for bad series arcs or confusing reveals or drawn-out character explanations, since the only metric for success on that show is Was It Fun. If it was Fun, it forgives nearly everything else, and makes any complaints seem like nitpicking. That's pretty much how these last two Decade episodes rolled out, sacrificing some of the things I like about Decade (reinterpretations, mostly) to make room for character returns and funny gags. Was it a great story? No. Was it fun? It really was, yeah.

Oh shoot! I forget he technically counts as a Rider and not a Kaijin of something. I should really start watching more Rider shows.

Most likely because the suit was damaged much like Gills? We never really saw Another Agito up until Gorider in which was remade from the ground up.

I feeling weird when I was turned on when Natsumi was possessed by male monster like Urataros.

Well, Kanna Mori is very attractive and Urataros is very charming. Whichever part of that works for you that normally doesn't is understandable in this circumstance.

KAMEN RIDER CHO DEN-O & DECADE NEO GENERATIONS THE MOVIE: THE ONIGASHIMA WARSHIP

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KAMEN RIDER DIE: I, uh, I feel like I owe you an apology! I asked you to pitch in on this movie, because it was billed as a Decade thing. IT IS DEFINITELY NOT A DECADE THING!

ENCHILADA645: It's as much Decade as Kiva's romp with Den-O was Kiva pretty much.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy my time here regardless.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I'd give it a slight edge over the Den-O/Kiva flick, but not by much. (Actually, I think THIS movie has more Kiva stuff than that one, since the Arms Monsters get an extended, funny cameo.) Decade is, y'know, around for a couple scenes, but he has basically no bearing on the plot. He doesn?€™t inform or contribute. He basically shows up for two-thirds of the final fight, and then leaves while the Den-Liner crew are fighting for their lives. Both Decade and Diend come off as callous to the point of villainous. How did Tsukasa's bailing and Kaitou's shit-stirring work for you?

ENCHILADA645: Eh I'd say less callous, and more... they're sorta just there in regards to things. Or at least like, Tsukasa is mostly apathetic to the whole situation. And I don't really blame him given his journey to the next world got interrupted by Sieg and he got possessed for like the fifth time or so. So he just wants to deal with Den-O for good, even if that does just mean making a small cameo here.
Daiki is very... he's there? And he has this weird purple effect for his dimensional walls that we never see before or after this. I'm honestly not sure what his purpose was here or what he was trying to do. Was he trying to spite Momo for him not becoming a train? Us for forgetting about him near entirely in the last recap? Or was his whole "special service" because he knew his clones would get body jacked? I'm honestly not sure.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: That's the weird part: Diend is arguably more useful to the movie's plot than Decade! Kaitou drops off those color-coded clones, perfect spare bodies for the Imagin to use. Decade... I mean, he brings Sieg, but it's not like it'd've broken our suspension of disbelief if Sieg had just wandered into frame during the third act, like he was in the neighborhood and thought he'd say hi to Hana. You don't have to work very hard to contrive a reason for Sieg to show up! That's basically his one move!

ENCHILADA645: That is a fair argument yeah, there was nothing stopping Sieg from just, showing up. But well, we had to push Decade in somehow since this was seemingly the set of years when they wanted to start pushing these Riders crossing over. Even if we wouldn't really get a proper crossover for a while.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: And, man, speaking of shoehorning in characters: WHY WAS RYOTARO IN THIS! The last non-Decade Den-O project was about saying goodbye to Ryotaro's actor, and introducing a new Den-O to carry the narrative weight. So, hey, here's Kotaro as Den-O, teaming up with Hana and the Den-Liner crew... including a youthened Ryotaro, who is the original Ryotaro that the series literally just said goodbye to, and he's still getting possessed by the Imagin so Sword Form can save the day.
WHY.
WHY.
WHY.
Why the last movie? Why Kotaro? WHY.

ENCHILADA645: Yeah this movie is very odd in that regard. You've got the big goodbye for Ryotaro, and you've also got them setting Momotaros as a solo deal in the episodes that advertise this movie. But then you've also got this movie setting up like the new status quo going forward for a bit here.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I genuinely can't figure out why the movie does this convoluted nonsense to keep Ryotaro in the narrative, when a) he doesn't have any emotional stake in this story, and b) it's not like he's got some huge scene with the other Imagin. There's, like, one good Ryotaro/Momo scene, and it's not a huge part of the plot.
And, since Real Den-O is so front and center in this movie, it makes Cho Den-O seem like a random hanger-on. I half expected him to bail on the final fight, too!

ENCHILADA645: Yeah definitely, Ryotaro is very much there, and his explanation for being a kid is very much there. Like I didn't mind Kotaro just being there since well, that was sorta the whole setup with the last movie I feel? Been a while since I watched any old Den-O content outside the stuff for Decade.
But yeah, Ryotaro is by far not what the movie considers the big emotional focus. So he definitely feels weird and off here.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The real emotional focus was Yuuto (the movie treats it like this is some gigantic, game-changing shock, which it definitely was not for me), and... man, I really want to Get Along With Yuuto, but this kid's story just didn't do it for me. Did his story about parental loss and geographic dissatisfaction connect with you?

ENCHILADA645: Having seen this movie once before, I picked up on what was going on after Yuuto got a lot of focus and Deneb possessed him. So like, the twist clearly had no effect on me. And I'll be real I completely forgot about this being the main emotional plot of the movie because the most I remembered of the movie is like, the last 20 or so minutes.
That being said, while his like core motivations didn't really do much for me in the beginning, I kind of warmed up to him once he got involved with the Den-Liner crew and had those moments in the past with the archer girl. It was enough for me to have like a big stupid smile on my face in the ending where we see regular Yuuto and Deneb paling around.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: And that's what was so weird for me: I love Yuuto and Deneb. LOVE. Absolutely my favorite relationship on Den-O, and one of my all-time favorite pairings across the entire Kamen Rider franchise. I should be super in the bag for the Secret Origin of Yuuto and Deneb. But, wow, I was really not.
Pretty much as soon as the grandmother calls him Yuu-chan, I'm like Oh It's The Kid Version Of Yuuto. After that point, I kept looking for some version of Yuuto's pride or snottiness or temper or something in Yuu. I never really found it? He's just some random kid, and his dilemma is really dull to me (I sort of expect more nuance from Den-O at this point than We Can't Lose Ourselves In The Past.) He's so thinly sketched, and there's none of Yuuto's nostalgia for me to fill in the blanks. I don't know. He didn't click with me at all, and I was trying.
But, yeah, that ending with Yuuto and Deneb wrestling in the park is fantastic.
Why they didn't just turn this series over to those two, I will never understand.

ENCHILADA645: It is honestly odd too, given like you've got the perfect cast set in stone. The four main Imagin being able to turn into Den-O whenever they want. You've got Yuuto as the human face alongside Deneb and he's clearly a popular character.
Not to mention the fact that you can get back the Den Liner crew pretty easily, and you've got a solid cast of people to carry Den-O for a while without making things too complicated.
I guess they just wanted a lot of backups.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: And, like, Yuuto didn't quit! He showed up for this one! Incredibly frustrating for me as a fan of both Yuuto and Den-O The Series.

ENCHILADA645: Yeah I can definitely see why. And I can see why this movie didn't really stick with me on a more emotional level than it did an entertainment level. Because I think the only reason I remembered the last big act of this movie for years was for a good reason.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Was it Climax Form But With Wings?
Or was it Team Den-O's absolutely brilliant plan to trick an immortal oni?

ENCHILADA645: Oh it was absolutely Team Den-O's incredible plan to trick an immortal oni. The minute that scene popped up I started getting deja vu and was grinning like crazy.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It is, for sure, the best part of this movie. I found a lot of this film sort of interminably dull (all of the stuff with Yuu and Toki was creepy and unaffecting), but when the entire very large team basically does a Let's Put On A Show to trick an immortal oni into thinking he's traveled through time, I was ecstatic. It's the sort of bonkers plot development that Den-O does maybe better than any other Kamen Rider series, and it alone is worth sitting through poorly-motivated guest stars and movie-only actors who just did not make a single positive impression on me.
To wit: I did not like our villains! They were very boring to me!

ENCHILADA645: Yeah they aren't much there at all are they? I think the most I remembered them for were their weird Rider-Oni looking suits. So it felt weird when they were having this big emotional moment in the end after reuniting for like 3 minutes.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The suits were nice to look at, but their plan/scheme/whatever is... man, I thought Gaoh was a villain with a simplistic plan of attack and a vague endgame, but these two make Gaoh look like Evolt from Build. What do they even want, other than to be evil? Is that it?

ENCHILADA645: Pillage and conquer I guess? Yeah they aren't exactly the most in depth when it comes to motivations. Which is why the most I remember from them is their suits and them having weird Ryuki monster minions that are considered oni I guess.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: They do pretty much look like unused Alternative designs. Kept waiting for the movie to address this, what with the time travel excuse just sitting there, but... nope! 16th-century monsters looked like 21st-century scientific extrapolations of monsters, that's this movie's aesthetic choice, got it.

ENCHILADA645: Yeah, it's definitely weird.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Anything else from this movie that you partially enjoyed and I clearly did not? I'd hate for you to have some happy feelings from this movie that I didn't cruelly stamp out.
I... Man, I really didn't like this movie. If you've got stuff from it you want to praise, I will do my best to not rain on your parade.

ENCHILADA645: Um... honestly this movie was an interesting experience going back to. But rewatching it, now I'm remembering exactly why I only remember the last big act of the movie starting with the literal ruse cruise. Also there is something I noticed about a lot of Den-O Movies post series, and it's that the big fight at the end has like a huge bar fight energy to it. And I feel like you can say that about a lot of like the post series Den-O Movies in terms of climaxes.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, it really does. It's the storytellers making sure that all of the Imagin and humans are in one place for the fight, so it's going to have ten heroes (or more!) and about a dozen monsters. Most other shows don't really work that hard to get everyone in one place at one time, to my memory. Like, the Ghost/Ex-Aid movie had five Riders in its finale, but they were all spread out. Den-O wants to get everyone playing off each other, since that's what folks love about the cast.

ENCHILADA645: Definitely
And I suppose these movies do continue to prove that well, what we love about Den-O is the characters really.

KAMEN RIDER DIE: They are still great. I wish there were maybe less of them, but I guess that's not the worst problem to have.
With that wish, we are done with the World of Den-O! How appropriate! Next up in the Decade thread is the World of Kabuto, and later this fall I'll be back in the Den-O thread for the Cho Den-O trilogy! Who knows how many more non-Ryotaro replacement heroes will be joining a not-replaced Ryotaro aboard the Den-Liner?! I'm anxious to find out!

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PROGRAMMING NOTE: I will be cross-posting this movie chat to the Den-O thread, for archival purposes, later in the week. I wanted to make sure the discussion didn't get split into two different threads. God forbid there isn't a record in both threads of a movie I found to be mediocre!

I don't know why Toei felt they needed to bring kid Ryotaro into this. I'd love to say that it pays off eventually and he brings something valuable to his upcoming appearances, but that would be a lie. I think he's only here because there was a Ryotaro on the show and someone felt that the movies needed him too. We're really in the part of Den-O where some characters start sticking around out of inertia rather than anything else. Kohana was already there, but now we can add Ryotaro to the list.

I don't really remember much about this movie. It's a Den-O film with evil Riders and the Edo set, which is not enough unique detail to pick it out of a police line-up. Probably the part that stuck with me the most is that Deneb and Yuuto's partnership is now officially a bootstrap paradox, which is fun.

This is a better movie than Climax Deka!

... that's about all I've got!!

Really the most important thing about this movie is that it lets Sieg join in on Climax, giving it the doofiest little wings ever. It's just perfect and I'm glad he gets to be on the team pile :)

Hana never felt like a waste to me, though. I like her as the serious boss for the Imagin, so Ryotaro can still be a nice guy. She's the Bad Cop, basically. And she's so good at it!

I could be wrong, but since the Team briefly travels back to early Showa (so early they don't even have trucks), the set is maybe different than the Edo one they always use? The streets are wider, for sure, and the buildings seems a little different? Hard to say.

When they travel back to 1502, I want to say they use the training building from Hibiki for their one physical set. (All the rest of their time is spent on a rocky beach... like pretty much every summer movie does.)

The third-best part of this movie (after the train scam and Yuuto professional-wrestling Deneb) is the Climax Form With Wings bit, when it's just (I assume) Takaiwa acting out all five Imagin in rapid fire. It is some exceptional physical comedy.

Wait, who are you talking to here again? :p

This movie is basically nostalgic for me at this point, and I feel like I get a tiny bit more fond of it every time I go back to it. While those episodes of Decade got the ball rolling by getting me to watch this on a whim (I think I was aware Decade was a glorified cameo), this is kinda the thing that truly pointed me in Den-O's direction. Which is weird! Because, like, if you asked me right after I watched it the first time, it's not like I was blown away by its staggering quality or anything. It was just some quaint but amusing Den-O adventure, but it's honestly pretty good at being that? The story is basic but cohesive, and it feels sort of unique among the Den-O movies in that it seems to consciously present it all in a way that's very friendly to people who are new to Den-O. Yuu makes a great audience surrogate character, and through him, I learned to love Deneb and the rest pretty quickly. Heck, to this day, I'm weirdly fond of New Den-O in huge part thanks to this being my introduction to him, rather than Final Countdown, where he's not very easy to like. I honestly sort of feel like being someone who hasn't watched Den-O is maybe the ideal way to go into this film, because it makes it much more of a novel thing than if you've already seen dozens of adventures with these guys. It's not aiming very high, I'll admit, but I don't know, there's a lot about this movie that rubs me the right way. Again, it didn't even impress me a ton of first viewing or anything, but it's been sitting with me surprisingly well in the long-term.

Oh, and the abundance of Ryuki monsters is apparently due to that particular monster of the week having a bunch of suits made to act as cannon-fodder grunts in Dragon Knight. Just one more way that show subtly influenced the franchise.

This is also the second instance of the actor playing a main villain in Den-O going on to have a major role in Ultraman Orb, and I gotta say, it's weird that happened more than once.

... oh my god I just looked it up, and how did I not recognize him?! Was it the Oni Makeup? It was probably the Oni Makeup. I remember him showing up in Drive and connecting it to Orb via that. But I did not know he also played Mimihiko!

So yeah, unless there are any other Den-O villains that showed up in Orb... I suppose that one Doofenshmirtz meme is applicable.

"If I had a nickel for every time a main villain actor from Den-O ended up having a major role in Ultraman Orb I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice."

I thought his voice sounded familiar while I was rewatching the movie for this, but I couldn't really peg it down, and brushed the thought aside... right up until his last line was "Abayo!" , which I remembered as being that actor's catchphrase, that he also worked into Orb's last episode.

It was pretty surprising to find out, but considering how bad I am at catching onto these things (Ankh was in this show!), it might be more surprising that I even picked up on the hint. :lol

I actually really liked this movie. Easily the best part of Decade.

I don't think it's that weird, really. The failings of this movie aren't of the Climax Deka variety, where it's relentlessly off-model and barely coherent. (Which are, actually, some of the stuff I think I liked best about Climax Deka?) Onigashima Warship fails for me as a continuation of Den-O. If it was the first or second Den-O thing I ever saw? Yeah, I'd probably be a lot more forgiving of a lot of aspects. (I certainly wouldn't care as much about Ryotaro's utility, since he'd just be one of three kids running around, getting into scrapes.) It's dull for me because it mostly just acts as More Den-O, and it has the same post-series flaws of not being able to explain how the concept should evolve. Divorced of all of that, if I blank out everything I've ever watched of Den-O? I mean, I still don't think I'd connect a lot with Yuu (he's just real sour in an unentertaining way for me), but I'd be a lot more appreciative of the zaniness of the monsters and superheroes.

The thing Decade has been in the least so far? What a surprise.

I honestly enjoyed this movie. Probably more than I should have the first time I saw this. It was one of the first Rider Movies I saw aside from the 2016 Ichigo movie (Which I also liked), not counting The First and The Next (I won't talk about them here to avoid getting off topic).

From what I'm gathering here, it fails as a Den-O continuation, which honestly, I can see, especially since some Rider movies are just an excuse to bring them back, make some money, and some brand new toys. Which might have helped me enjoy it, despite not having seen Den-O. I know they certainly showed me I already love the cast. Especially that Train Hoax scene.

Yeah, there are parts of the story I'm not a fan of, like the time-travel nonsense (At least as far as Yuuto was concerned), I don't know, those "I met you in the past, to give you this (insert something here), so you can give it back to me in the future, so I can give it to you in the past, or else, everything get's thrown off" plots are some of the time-travel tropes I'm not particularly in to.

And of course, Decade has almost no point being here. Not like I have anything against him, but they really shouldn't have advertised it as a Decade movie, at all.

Still, I enjoyed it for it's goofiness, creativity, and visual flare (I thought the warship coolest darn thing), but I'm sure when I watch Den-O and maybe re-watch it, I might be a little more negative. But even then, I don't I can bring myself to dislike this movie.

Of all the complaints I have about this movie, Time Nonsense ain't one of them. Which... I am as surprised as you are! I do not have a high tolerance for Time Nonsense, and this is the worst type of Time Nonsense you could have: Sakurai Time Nonsense.

The thing is, this sort of convoluted secret origin is 1000% the way Den-O tells a story; all the time, every time. Complaining about Yuuto's new-and-improved-? backstory would be like complaining about how the Imagin can even drink Naomi's coffee. There's a certain amount of conceptual buy-in that you need to do to watch Den-O, and Everyone Has A Convoluted Backstory is one of them. Thankfully, this movie keeps it mostly to the background, where it's a nice little capper that Yuu is really Yuuto Sakurai. You could cut that part out and, while it would keep the movie from its more heartwarming scenes, it wouldn't really tank the story.

So, yeah, I am completely okay with this new wrinkle to Yuuto and Deneb's friendship.

That's true. I wasn't saying it was "bad," as Yuu was still pulled off nicely, just that those sorts of time tropes aren't my favorite. I'm sure my thoughts on Den-O the show might be completely different, but I can't deny the positivity surrounding the show, time shenanigans included.

Hey I'm just gonna peak in quick. This is movie is one of the very first kamen rider things I saw, way back when Kamen Rider/Super Sentai stuff was still being uploaded to youtube in like 3 parts (This was when youtube still let you change your background and stuff). I think I had no idea what was going on tbh. Like I barely remember anything about it, did not know that the main character kid was yuuto, or even who yuuto was. I had no context from either show too. I can't remember why I chose to watch it tbh. I do know it made me love the new Den-o design though.

Unfortunately, they do act very morally ambiguous outside their show, like I mentioned about Kaito in SHW. It's weird, since I've seen a lot of people praise those characters for their post-show appearances which are sometimes OOC or exaggerated for contrived conflict, while bashing the show where they're more like themselves.

I speculate that this is the main reason why people complain about Mizoguchi Takuya as an actor, out of spite for him replacing Satoh Takeru as Ryoutarou, rather than his original appearance as Nogami "Koutarou" Ryoutarou in Ore Tanjou. Ryoutarou getting de-aged by Time Nonsense definitely retroactively makes me feel more meh about Final Countdown than I already did. He's pushier as well, like what's with him expecting Momotaros to help people who are trying to kill him? That's hardly reasonable, even if it is something a hero would do.

However, something else I find strange about Ryoutarou in this movie is how he's referred to as being 19 years old. He was born in December 1988, so if this is May 2009, why is he not 20 yet? Did Kobayashi fail at math?!

As a fan of urban areas, yeah, I can generally agree with Yu about that, although I think his "hatred" of rural areas is a little extreme. I don't hate them, I just prefer the excitement and noise of the big city!

Fun Fact: Yu's actor is actually.... An actress!

I thought it was just nice to finally have a story about a kid Yuto that was completely detached from his whole memory problem subplot.

Why creepy? Toki is implied to be Yu's ancestor due to resembling his dead mother and the causal loop with the kirifuda, so I thought it was supposed to be a nice familial moment between them.

Yeah, Gaoh's so much more awesome than these stereotypical rampaging Oni. They're giving Takeshi a bad name!

The big fight with Super Climax Form was pretty great. However, I would also like to point out the awesome scene with Denliner driving through the giant barrel of a battleship cannon, followed my Momotaros' duel with Kuchihiko!

This thread continues to surprise me as I continue to learn out of nowhere things... like this!

It totally blew my mind when I found out about that!

I found out about it when I was watching EZ Rider's Toku Time video review of the movie myself.

It is undeniable!

There's basically no explanation for Yuuto's significance in this movie. He matters to Deneb, and there's that joyous reunion at the end, but nothing that says This Is Dude Is Normally A Kamen Rider. It ends up not really mattering, since the entire point is that the bond between Deneb and Yuuto transcends contracts and superheroes, but we never even see Yuuto henshin into Zeronos.

I was legitimately shocked that Decade left in the middle of the climactic battle. And he does it with this weirdly self-satisfied air? Like, he's all Mission Accomplished when everyone else is trying not to get shot out of the sky by a magic warship. It's maybe too far?

Yuuto's relationship with Toki mostly didn't work for me because Toki plays everything that's transpiring in a happy-go-lucky way, and Yuu plays everything that's happening with a hollowed-out sense of sorrow. He's putting a lot of weird weight on this random woman he just met, and we as the audience have no idea what his mom was like, to be able to see the connection.

It just came off mildly uncomfortable to me. This kid is making some ancient archer out to be his new mom? And his new mom also has a bit of a death wish?

Quick programming note!

Scheduling has been sort of tricky for the next couple Decade episodes, not at all helped by my having to work today on my day off. Also, my mom - Kamen Rider Dianne - is in town this weekend, so my toku time is sort of nowhere. Long story short, with any luck the stars will align and we'll get to Kabuto on Sunday or Monday. Thanks for your patience!

My point was actually about how Natsumi looks hot af including outsde that leather outfit that fanbase nicknames her Natsumelon.

Lol true, this is practically a Den-O movie, Tsukasa is only an extra muscle. Not even a scene of him probably trading egos with Sieg (who you treat as Tendou-like, and I agree) or such? Wasted chance! Sieg's probably the Imagin most compartible with Tsukasa. And true too Diend is more useful as Tsukasa only fought as regular Decade while Diend fought as himself. Oh wait, that's more like saying that Diend's power is superior to Decade's (it contrasts, but this movie kinda portrays it as unfair).

To ask, why don't you just treat Ryotaro's appearence just like the appearence of Kohana, Owner, Naomi, etc. as a pack of Den-O's cast to appear when the franchise revisits past stuff? I don't think that any of them have emotional stake too like Ryotaro? They're there for some of their typical comedic hijinks (though Owner gets some prominence here later). Though I agree that Ryotaro being a kid didn't make sense here (or just that they don't bother to explain why) unlike movies such as Den-O I'm Born.

Super? Lol... Deneb's origin of his partnership with Yuuto was related to... Sakurai. Deneb formed a contract with Sakurai to rebel against Kai, and Sakurai's wish was to have Deneb aid past Yuuto. But apparently the Yuu origin is considered as canon for the wiki page, but I don't know if crossovers (this one is, even with the minimal presence of Decade's cast) are canon. Though for Yuuto's pride or snottiness, I don't know if his kid story here explains the origins of Yuuto's bad trait there, as he's shown miserable in his youth here, thus later it may turn him into a prideful and snotty man. I guess the mistake is the "game-changing shock" at the end? It kinda forces the plot to keep away anything resembling the original Yuuto in the kid. The park ending is fantastic yeah, with Yuuto turning Deneb's clingliness him into a suplex move.

Yes, that's "Super/Cho Climax Form". So it actually appeared here, I already know the form long ago while playing Climax Heroes. Momo was needlessly angry at Sieg joining, when it's actually an advantage that you can fly now, smh! Though still, albeit I already know this, the finisher's still something that doesn't impress me, and that can happen with extra movie forms but giving it more bland attacks. The wing had an absolutely beautiful design though, but not even like, for starters, the Climax Form's finisher of moving the Den-O's DenKamens in its body parts into the part of the body that will attack.

I agree that, the part of tricking both Onis with mundane stuff is golden. Though probably I just like the implementation of mundane stuff in superpowered world. The villains aren't only defeated by fighting, but they (along with Kotaro being saved) are defeated partly by mundane stuff too, which is utilizing art and craft which can be done by any creative human (and Ryutaros is an established artist). I only wonder how much time it took to complete the art and crafts needed to fool them, it can take much longer set up than fighting, or superpower's still involved in this....

Though I gotta defend a bit of the other scenes, personally I find Toki likable, probably due to her keeping gentle and lighthearted demeanor despite being in hardened situation. Also if you'd use creepy as criticism here, I don't know.. there's a hug scene, but I'd only view that as psychologically helping others, lending a shoulder to other's crying, though hope the solution won't be turning it into typical prototypical melodrama, as the 'creepy' description can be used by some people in another kid-adult interaction like Amane to Hajime in Blade (that one's full of heated quarrel, not to those 2 but others around them), but that one's given tolerance in the discussions.

And yeah, at least they should focus on the villain's cruelty more other than how they're on the opposing side, like the state of the conquered areas or what'd they do there, and why they need to be put down (probably too late for Kuchihiko mourning Mimihiko), other than, one thing that sticks out in that is where both of them had no qualms trying to hurt Yuu. For their costume, I also thought that Mimihiko's costume Shilubara resemble Blade's helmet at some points. But Kai also had a vague endgame, I thought not explaining everything can be a better way for you? A̶n̶d̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶K̶a̶i̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶M̶i̶m̶i̶h̶i̶k̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶K̶u̶c̶h̶i̶h̶i̶k̶o̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶.̶

All I'm gonna say is Den-O Vega Form and Den-O Super Climax FTW. :rock:

It's because Owner, Naomi, Hana, etc. are all members of the ensemble, while Ryotaro was previously (and maybe still is) the title character. The expectation is that these stories should largely be about Kamen Rider Den-O. Having Ryotaro be around after an emotional send-off AND be around in a movie where he's just one of four heroes... it's not unfair to assume that Ryotaro should have a bit more significance in a Den-O story. If he can't/won't, then maybe he shouldn't be in the story.

So while I love the two new Den-O forms from the movie, I hated the movie after watching it because at this point it felt like they were squeezing the branches of a lemon tree to make lemonade. While it was great to see Mizoguchi filling in as Ryotaro instead of some random person, the magic of 2007 was not there anymore.

I'd like to know the reason that you like Gaoh, despite that Gaoh is generally viewed badly too in Den-O discussion before, though of course those 2 Onis here are viewed even worse here for plausible reasons. B̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶i̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶m̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶g̶e̶n̶e̶r̶a̶l̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶ ̶d̶e̶v̶i̶l̶,̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶e̶s̶h̶i̶'̶s̶ ̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶o̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶m̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶s̶!̶

I don't know if you can answer this, but I still wonder about my question before for the potential fixing, one of the problem seems to be about bringing up Yuu's mother while she was never seen, would it be not refering to her mother then in this part (so it'd be more like usual adult and kid bonding)? I know execution matters in these kind of questions but still wanna know, the difference for something like Amane and Hajime in Blade was about how Amane's father was shown before in Hajime's flashback? Also dunno about Toki having a death wish, she only states about her situation where she can die at anytime due to the constant war at her village (which is very true as she's a vulnerable normal human?) and actually wanting a safe peaceful village and starting a family?

I briefly summarized why I like Gaoh here, responding to Die's review of Ore Tanjou. I think a unique and intriguing movie villain is a big part of what makes a summer movie enjoyable. While these rampaging Oni were tricked out of obtaining Denliner in the movie's Climax, Gaoh showed immediate competence as he successfully hijacked Denliner in the first half an hour and he does it while being totally cool and intimidating! A guy who declares his intent to destroy time sounds like a much bigger deal than just a bunch of rampaging Oni who want to rampage. That's why, despite missing a lot of backstory to explain his motivation, I can rank him high among movie villains alongside guys like Daido and Barlckxs.

Some of this is just super subjective (Toki's a character I don't really care enough about to really interrogate why she didn't work for me), but some of it is that, yeah, Yuu's mom is such an abstract idea that the bond between Toki and Yuu relies a lot on the actors' ability to imbue it with significance, and the dissonance of Toki's genial mood and Yuu's fixation just didn't work for me. It's not a bond I felt, if that makes any sense, which made it come off a little creepy to me.

The Amane/Hajime thing is almost the exact opposite, where there's so much specificity to those two characters throughout the series that it asks less of the audience to fill in the blanks. Also, man, it is tough to compare a relationship that was a pillar in a fifty-episode character arc and a four-scene arc in a 90-minute movie. That is some real Apples And Oranges stuff right there.

Get ready for an all-Chicago Decade post, as MrWilliamGraham and I are here to watch some Kabuto-themed episodes!

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KAMEN RIDER DIE: We've got MrWilliamGraham helping us out for these Kabuto-themed episodes of Decade! MWG is one of the few people on the TokuNation boards that I can confirm is an actual human being, and one I've had some long conversations with IRL. But! I've either not asked some important questions, or (way more likely) I've already forgotten the answers. So, MWG, let me risk our friendship by maybe asking you questions I've already asked you months ago!
To start with, talk to me a little about how you discovered tokusatsu as a genre. What was your first exposure to it?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I think like alot of people growing in the US, our first exposure to Toku was through Power Rangers
My rangers hayday would be around 1997 up to 2009 ish
back when the show was still on over-the-air
I wouldn't say I was a diehard fan, but i definitely watched the show and owned a couple toys
I was more of a mech collector than figures
once PR moved to cable the franchise fell off my radar

KAMEN RIDER DIE: So Power Rangers was more of a side hobby than a main interest, growing up?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I would say so, one of those series that just misses out on the top 5

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Any particularly memorable seasons in those early years? Ones that you're still a sucker for as an adult collector/viewer?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: My parents had taped the original MMPR movie on VHS ( remember taping shows as they were airing ? )
so it was a movie I had on rotation as a kid, I'm definitely going to say its the best big screen feature of the series ( ducks for cover )
My favorite series was 2001's Time Force
I was a sucker for the future tech / time travel aesthetic, and I love the mecha
It's a series that has held up really well and is praised for writing and storylines

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The good news about me never watching any Power Rangers is that I'm totally unable to either push back against "bad" takes, or even understand if an opinion is controversial. I am going to tell other people that fans love the MMPR movie, because I don't know any better. Thank you for giving me a talking point!
Your interest in Power Rangers waned in 2009, which is when it moved to cable. What was next for you and toku? Did you rediscover Power Rangers later in life, or did you start in on Japanese series?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I had just a few glimpses of where the PR franchise was going based on stuff I'd seen in stores but I didn't do another deep dive until 2017, when Saban was making the next feature adaptation
Those trailers made me think " hey, that was a show I used to watch "
so I did a little deep dive on where the franchise was at that point, discovered that it was still airing on TV ( Dinosaurs again ! )
which then lead me to a deep dive on where all of these shows came from: Super Sentai
I had years ago discovered it all came from Japan, but it wasn't until then that I really started searching up the names of the shows and how they were different to their american counterparts

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I like that you said "dinosaurs again", instead of "dinosaurs still?€?. Dinosaurs are so much of what I think of Sentai as being - like the insect motifs for Kamen Rider - that I would've just assumed they'd only ever done dinosaur seasons. Which, incidentally, makes it so weird that Sentai is doing its most Kamen Rider-esque season ever (from an outsider's perspective) just as a dinosaur-themed Kamen Rider is about to debut. What a time to be alive!
But back to Sentai: was that the first Japanese tokusatsu you watched? A Sentai series?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kamen Rider Faiz and Gekisou Sentai Carranger almost concurrently
ah scratch that
Faiz and Gosei Sentai Dairanger
( Dairanger is the season that directly succeeded MMPR's japanese counterpart, but it was never properly adapted in America )

KAMEN RIDER DIE: What made you choose those two to start with? Faiz, in particular, feels like an unusual starting point for the franchise.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Dairanger because I had no point of reference with PR, since it had no direct adaptation
so it was entirely fresh and new to me
Faiz came around because through the YT algorithms, I kept seeing these henshin/fight moves compilation videos
and the Faiz weapons really drew me in

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's nice to see YouTube continuing to radicalize viewers by presenting them with the most aggressive and controversial content. Faiz! Man! That's my favorite Phase 1 show, but it's an incredibly weird one to start off with. Those characters are jerks to each other for most of the series! Faiz's first upgrade form is thrown at him by Kusaka with almost no explanation! THERE IS NO CAFE!
Despite those many hurdles, how did Faiz work for you? Did it ignite a passion to watch more Kamen Rider, or did that come later?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: It absolutely did
I found Faiz to be thoroughly enjoyable, and I appreciated there was a storyline connecting all the episodes
I think it was something I wasn't able to appreciate as a kid, the benefits of long format storytelling

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, the Rider shows... even the ones where the arc-plot stuff is less compelling, the characters themselves always have these memorable journeys they go on. Inoue shows tend to be less about a mounting threat from villains - Smart Brain really isn't changing the landscape of the conflict at all over the series - and more about how the heroes/protagonists change over time into better/happier people. It makes the whole series work on a character level, even if the villains don't have a very cool plan.
So, at this point in your toku discovery, were you just all in? Devouring shows across multiple franchises?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yes, but I started to really lean in on Rider more
mostly because I had nothing to compare it to so I was drawn in to that sense of discovery
If I had to sum up my experience with toku in those first few months, it would be "come for the action, stay for the characters and story "
and shortly after I started digging into the current shows that were airing : Build

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Did you start watching Build as it was airing?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: No, it had already premiered and was maybe about a dozen or so episodes in, but I was able to catch up and started watching it as it aired
and then I started watching Lupinranger vs Patoranger as it premiered, I was able to track the copyright listings and all the toy catalogue leaks and trailers

KAMEN RIDER DIE: That sounds like a real commitment! The sort of commitment that might require a tokusatsu fan site to help keep track of everything. Is this when you found your way to TokuNation?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yes ! I can't remember exactly how I found TokuNation
but that's how I discovered LupvPat was going to be the next Sentai
and I started lurking there ever since

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Not just lurking, though! You've done some occasional posting, contributing to the discourse. Which threads do you find yourself in the most? I know you're a pretty avid figure collector, so I'm assuming the Figuarts thread is like a second home.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yea I think I hop into the Figuarts thread the most, but I'll also pop in to some of the show discussions and rumors

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Psyched for Revice?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yea, I'm always psyched for new shows
with Revice being an anniversary season seemingly plus maybe dinosaurs
its that sense of discovery that appeals to me when we get new shows

KAMEN RIDER DIE: For sure. I love the first few episodes of basically every series. That sense of possibility, that weird thought that you are going to feel very different about all of these strangers real soon... there's really nothing like it.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Exactly, which I appreciate in the annual toku recycle
yes, they have to change it up to sell new batches of toys
but it's always fun to see which direction the writers/directors go with each new theme

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, totally. I remember feeling that way about Kabuto when it started, where we get Tendou's introduction way after we get Kagami's, and how that sort of tripped me up in how the show was telling its story. It makes Tendou less of the usual I Have Lessons To Learn audience-surrogate lead Rider than we'd gotten on some of the previous shows.
And speaking of Kabuto! You and I were hanging out last week, and you volunteered to handle the Kabuto episodes for Decade. Tell me a little bit about your experience with Kabuto. Was it a fun show for you? How would you rank it against other Phase 1 series?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kabuto was a really fun show for me, I devoured it faster than the other show's I've watched recently.
One of my favorite experiences with Phase 1

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Who was your favorite Rider, and why was it Sasword?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Sasword is a league of his own

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He wins at winning.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: if V-Cinemas were a thing back then, Sasword would have had his own trilogy

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He was an early-days Genm, and there was no system to maximize his maximalism. It's a missed opportunity, for sure.
Otherwise, you liked the cast from Kabuto?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Very much so, for a large cast of riders and supporting character, I think for the most part the show did a great job of balancing everyone out and giving them their time to shine

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Well, we're about to watch some Decade episodes celebrating Kabuto, and hopefully they're able to live up to Kabuto's greatness. MRWILLIAMGRAHAM! Prep your tofu, cast off your fears, and get ready to walk the path of heaven straight towards these episodes of DECADE!

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KAMEN RIDER DECADE EPISODE 16 - "WARNING: KABUTO IS OUT OF CONTROL!”
The Team lands in the World of Kabuto, as Tsukasa is swiftly enlisted to help ZECT take down a Worm, while Tsukasa hangs out back at the Hikari Studio. Wait, WHAT?! After a brief bout of mistaken identity and Double Decade hijinks, Tsukasa and the gang meet Mayu, a young woman being protected by the eternally-accelerated Kamen Rider Kabuto… the same Kabuto who she blames for killing her brother. While ZECT maneuvers to rid the city of Kabuto once and for all, Kabuto works to save Mayu from a Worm plot. But when Mayu's presumed-dead brother is revealed to be in charge of ZECT, Team Decade may not be able to put the brakes on things!

KAMEN RIDER DECADE EPISODE 17 - "THE PATH OF GRANDMOTHER'S FLAVOR”
Mayu is reunited with her brother, but he's got no interest in reuniting their family. No interest, that is, until he realizes that Kabuto protects her, so she can be used as bait to trap Kabuto. Everything explodes in our finale as Kabuto is revealed to be Mayu's ACTUAL brother, while a Worm duplicate manipulated both her and ZECT. Together with Decade, Kabuto defeats the Worm Souji and vanishes back into the Speed Force or whatever. There's some messy thematic stuff, and absolutely no Sasword, but at least Tsukasa got some new cards out of it!

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https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../decade16a.png

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Look at him! Look at our speedy superhero, Kabu-- wait, that's not Kabuto!
That's Kamen Rider Wizard!
-finger to ear-
I am being told that we are actually looking at Faiz Axel/Accel, one of many very cool form changes from these two Kabuto-themed episodes of Decade.
It's always interesting to see what this show thinks are the most memorable aspects of a previous Kamen Rider series, and these episodes go all in on Kabuto's Action Sequences Were Awesome. I feel like Decade delivered on that expectation. Did you?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: One of my favorite parts of Decade is seeing where all the past suits pop up.
and I love how Tsukasa almost immediately uses the powers from the past episode
sometimes to hilarious effect as we saw in this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He's a collector, and he loves playing with his new toys.
Yeah, we'll for sure talk about the Den-O action in this episode, but I was really thrilled with how the story used suits and powers in non-hilarious ways this time. There's a real sense of tactics in the fights this time, something I don't remember being a big deal since maybe the Kiva episodes? The fights here are more of a chess match, where Tsukasa and Kaitou have to adjust their game plans to account for new variables. That's... I don't think that's an all the time Kamen Rider thing, so I like calling attention to it when it's prominent.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: For sure. It adds a lot to Tsukasa's prowess as a Rider. He's not just a guy with the powers of everyone. I think even from a behind the scenes aspect, the power ups are not just there for fan service.
Almost like kids having that classic "who's the strongest rider?" discussion

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It can sometimes feel that way, though. Between his I Need To Put This New Card In Every Deck mentality, and the way some of the form changes are, like, thematically interesting without being relevant to combat, it's tough to see him using his arsenal in clever ways.
Here, I'm watching the first part, and I go Oh He Could Use Faiz Axel/Accel As An Equalizer... and then the show has Tsukasa come to the same conclusion. That made for a really engaging cliffhanger, because it felt like Tsukasa was using his brains, rather than just giving a speech so someone else could help him outnumber an enemy.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Which is the bulk of Decade, but yes that was a great detail
Same as the Worm fight where he starts of with Kuuga, where you first think Tsukasa just has Yusuke on his mind
but he has the Pegasus form in his backpocket
or is it side pocket ...

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah! He uses Pegasus Form's heightened senses to get the bead on an invisible enemy.
Even Kaitou gets in on the action, using Psyga and Ixa to construct a three-dimensional Bullet Hell to trap Kabuto.
It's not a story that tries to coast on nostalgia or callbacks. It really wants to serve up action that feels as clever and fun to watch as Kabuto was at its best.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Even pulls out some Riot Troopers to even the playing field
Are we sure this wasn't also a secret Faiz tribute ?

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Everything's a secret Faiz tribute in my heart.
...except for this, which was a Very Very Kabuto story.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../decade16b.png

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Tsukasa in a Kabuto story... I mean, the easy read on him is that he's just Tendou, and never was that more apparent than in these episodes. Slotting him into a Kabuto homage... it basically just plays like a Kabuto story? The end?
There're a bunch of fun ideas in the first part, but those all get blown off in about ten minutes. After that, it's just Tsukasa As Tendou in Kabuto's Greatest Hits, and I found it sort of unimaginative?
Like, the Two Tsukasas thing is great, but it's one scene that never gets called back on. Same thing with Tsuskasa as a ZECT member.
So much of this story just ends up being exactly like Kabuto The Series, and that was a letdown for me. How about you?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I agree, it's a shame that the most interesting parts don't become the through line of this arc
I think Decade is at its best when they remix elements of the past shows
but here they just insert Tsukasa into a cliff notes of Kabuto

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's just Souji and Mayu, and the beats are super similar. ZECT feels identical, and making the Souji/Mayu story so central to the narrative feels almost claustrophobic. This might as well just be a clip show of Kabuto ideas. It's not some weird thing like BOARD in the Blade episodes, or setting the Faiz episodes in a high school. Literally the only interesting twist is keeping the grandmother around, but otherwise? It felt... yeah, I'm gonna stick with "unimaginative".

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: and even with how close it is to the original, you can really see the Kagami sized hole in this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He has nothing to do here!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kabuto is as much about Kagami as it is about Souji

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Not as far as this story was concerned!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: if anything they should've added Onodera in that role

KAMEN RIDER DIE: But that would've meant giving Onodera or Natsumi something to do, and that is now apparently against this show's rules.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Introducing Grandmother was an interesting concept, but it felt flat to me because it loses that mystique original Souji created
Grandmother works best as the Maris of Kamen Rider
( Let's see how many people pick up that ref )

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, it's funny as a Kabuto reference (I assume at least one of her lines in the restaurant was from a Kabuto episode), but it's not much more than that to me. It also leads into some thematic stuff I didn't love?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../decade16c.png

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Agh this didn't really work for me

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I don't really love this story's message. I never thought of Kabuto as a show About Family, even though that's 100% what this story was about. (I thought of it more as a show about not measuring yourself against other people, and being okay with your limitations.) So this story sort of trying to say Family Will Always Be There For You in a way that also plays as Family Demands You Not Change... wasn't crazy about that!
The idea that a franchise about a transforming hero would do a story where change is a bad thing... what?!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Remember in the finale of Kabuto
when Souji delivers his badass speech about changing the world by changing yourself into a source of inspiration ?
Where was that ? That should've been huge for this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: There's a stifling feeling to the finale of this story, where it's all about denying aspects of Mayu that are troublesome? And staying with a family business forever? Making the exact same dish forever? And never ever trying to do more than that, because it would be like saying your family isn't enough for you? Even though it sort of shouldn't have to be enough for you?
Like, yeah, Tsukasa's sort of a dick, trying to change a business's unique recipe on his first day (He's the Tendou! That's his role!), but the show completely takes the grandmother's side that change is unnecessary and borderline insulting.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yea it feel very much the opposite of what this franchise wants to invoke
individuals becoming a force for change and growth despite adversity and circumstance

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I'm sure that, much like the Blade guy didn't want to write the Blade tribute episodes, Yonemura didn't want to write these Kabuto ones (some fill-in guy handled them), but, man! Maybe he should've given some notes on what Kabuto's supposed to (the)be(e) like! ZECT, nailed it. There Are A Brother And A Sister, bingo. Even Tsukasa gets at the vague shape of Tendou (without mimicking Tendou's confidence, which is such a huge part of that character that I can't ever see too much similarity between them). But it really doesn't feel that much like Kabuto to me.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: The little glimpses of Kabuto I did feel was the comedy in the beginning of the first part

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, there's some bonkers stuff in the first episode.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kabuto is a sneaky hilarious show, and I felt that seep through
maybe it wasn't totally intentional to bring back that comedy, but those parts were probably the highlight of this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: True! The Twokasas stuff was priceless, but we have to talk about the best gag in this story:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../decade16d.png

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The idea that the only powers Decade got from the Den-Liner crew were poses and catchphrases, it KILLED ME.
The villains being baffled and then furious at Decade's non-sequiturs! So they kick the shit out of him!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Poor Tsukasa had no idea it was going to blow up in his face

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's such a fun little dig at how fan-service-y Den-O had gotten, and how much Decade as a show was in a promotional mode for the Currently In Theaters movie. It's slightly mean, which is maybe perfect for a Kabuto story.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: yea its a little disappointing the best part of the arc was a callback to the previous one
but man does it work

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It works so good! Den-O is the comedy gift that keeps giving.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: someone was playing the long game

KAMEN RIDER DIE: My favorite touch is how aggravated Tsukasa gets when he realizes that those dopey monsters were only good for cheap pops. He is livid.
Anything else from these episodes you wanted to talk about? We didn't really say much about Souji, who I found to be pleasant-but-forgettable since he lost about 75% of his personality to Tsukasa.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: yea there's also not much going on for Worm Souji
Do you think this arc could've used 100% more Sasword ?

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The backstory for this dude's dilemma is sort of handwaved. He's stuck in Clock Up for... reasons. Part of me thought it was going to be psychological, where him losing Mayu's trust kept him from being able to go home, but then she wants him to come home at the end and he still ends up back in Clock Up? It's literally just Reasons, and that's all we get.
Also, yes, WHERE WERE JIIYA AND TSURUGI
GO TO A.R. FRANCE AND GET THEM
It's just so weird to me that this story latched onto the Tendou/Hiyori part of the narrative, when there's honestly not a ton of it in Kabuto The Series? The movie, sure, to my chagrin. But the series lost Hiyori for a huge chunk of time, and I never felt like that side of the story ever really recovered. Plenty of good parts besides that, but the bond between those two characters definitely diminished for me.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: It didn't recover, but I still found it endearing by the end. I guess it's difficult to encapsulate a whole series in such a short amount of screen time, which is why I prefer when this show just goes in a new direction

KAMEN RIDER DIE: They did not do themselves a lot of favors here, no.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: There's probably a stronger version of this arc where AR Souji is more present than just Tsukasa being a stand in for him

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Or they'd leaned harder into the Worms duplicating our normal cast.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: That would've been amazing, and honestly it would've been right up Inoue's alley
Kabuto but as farce is what this arc needed

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Maybe that would've been too much comedy after the Den-O episodes, though? Hard to say. What's easy to say is that our cast is heading next to the World of Hibiki! Expect music, mayhem, and at least one (1) Actual Zanki, who I guess just shows up to every Kamen Rider set and asks if they need him that day. It's going to be a cacophonous confrontation with Mysterious Fisherman as we continue our Journey through Decade!

I'm from Evanston.

Practically Chicago! Good to know!

To me, the Kabuto two-parter is memorable for being the episodes that introduced us to Daijiro Kawaoka aka Souji/Kabuto and Sou/TheBee. Kawaoka for those who also watch sentai shows is the person who played Nossan/Kyoryu Blue's deceased brother-in-law in Kyoryuger and currently Dr. Isao Goshikida aka Kaito/Zenkaiser's dad in Zenkaiger. Him playing dual roles wasn't super impressive, but I thought he was a good choice as the less-cocky alternate reality Souji. And yes I love how the Den-O cards are useless. :lolol

Yeah, he did a good job with a real nothing role. By having Souji not even show up until the final few minutes, and then having Tsukasa do all of the Tendou stuff, this guy's got a very narrow window to create a memorable character. I think he did a solid, Very Non Tendou Souji job of creating a sense of openness and warmth with Mayu. It's not the weird mystery of Tendou/Hiyori - which maybe undercuts the Kabuto homage of it all - but it's a solid emotional beat in a story that otherwise didn't really connect with me.

That actor was also totally unhinged as his cyclopean doppelganger, which was fun.

And thing is that is the last time we have seen him that unhinged so far. At least on the tokusatsu side of things. After that his two notable roles in super sentai were model father figures.

Ah yes Kabuto, the final Rider that won me on aesthetics alone with the intense action and cool fight scenes. There's something really cool about the super speed fights that instantly drew me. Not to mention the Kabuto Rider designs looked sleek and reminded me of another bug themed series I ended up loving back in the day that got an American adaptation.

So Kabuto felt like the perfect watch even if the story was sort of all over the place. Also shout out to them refusing to use the Faiz Kamen Ride until this two parter so they could do the speed up counter to Clock Up with Faiz Axel.

Also there's a particular line here that struck me in the gut because I wasn't expecting it to show up. I'll explain when we get in further since well spoilers, but yeah. Overall, fairly standard, but strong enough to pull me into the world of Kabuto for my Phase 1 watches.