MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 24

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There's some stuff in here about the transformative power of grief, and some stuff about the origins of evil, and a whole bunch of Knight's new Survive form. It's a much more upbeat episode than I was expecting after the death of Tezuka, so... maybe I wasn't the only person who felt like his story could be over?

It's an interesting choice, to not really wallow in guilt after Tezuka's sacrifice. Ren's the most pragmatic, acknowledging that this was a choice Tezuka made, not something anyone should blame themselves for. (I super love the hypocrisy of Ren here, being all Why Is Everyone Feeling Guilty when that dude's whole deal was feeling immense guilt over Eri's fate until, like, yesterday.) Shinji and Yui both beat themselves up in their first scene, but they pretty quickly turn their self-loathing and recriminations into a plan of action, a way forward. (Yui gets there faster than Shinji, unexpectedly. Progress!) There's not really a Stages Of Grief to this story so much as there's a little space to react, and then a conscious decision to make sure this doesn't have to happen again. Yui throws herself back into investigating Shiro, which doesn't immediately bear fruit but might next episode. (That cliffhanger!) Shinji decides to try and stop the Rider Battles by appealing to the fighters' humanity, which... I'm not 100% clear on how it's different from what Tezuka was doing? Shinji explains his plan to Ren in that he's not trying to alter their fate as Riders, but to change their minds as people. If there's a difference there, it's so minor as to be academic. You are trying to get Riders to stop killing each other, to stop fighting. That's just what Tezuka was doing? I think a more assertive Shinji is a good move after a more introspective Shinji of the last few episodes, but I'm not real clear on how this isn't just Riders Shouldn't Fight all over again. I'd love to get some more details, some way in which this isn't just a reversion to the old Shinji.

The Asakura/Reiko storyline is intriguing, and feels fresh. There's a bit of an attempt to give Asakura a tragic backstory, a reason why he's a monster. It's good, in theory, to create a three-dimensional version of Asakura. I'm afraid the show might be sacrificing some of his impact by making him a non-zero amount of sympathetic. It's risky, humanizing him, but it's probably necessary. He needs to be more developed as a character or he'll become a punchline. I don't think it'll ever get to a redemption arc, but just trying to explore Asakura's story is exciting. That's an unpredictable dude, a character who always feels dangerous. Pairing him with Reiko, someone who feels relatively non-judgemental when it comes to investigating the truth, it's a great couple of characters to keep things surprising. Reiko doesn't seem to have any limits on searching for answers, and god knows Asakura couldn't care less about meeting expectations, so this is a story I was really enjoying. Seems like it's going to be a good one.

Oh, hey, and there're a couple fight scenes where Ren gets to show off his chase card, Survive. (I really like that the card itself has an animated background. Very cool!) It's a sweet-looking suit, Survive. The deep blue of the armor really pops, and the gold edging is crisp. It feels more colorful, more optimistic, which fits Ren's current outlook. Plus, it's got a turbine-powered bat that transforms into a motorcycle, so, A+++. It's a pretty great upgrade for Knight.

This was a nice episode. Felt a little calmer, despite the two fight scenes, than I was expecting. There wasn't this Shadow Of Tezuka hanging over the episode. Instead, folks processed their grief, made a statement of intent, and got ready to move on with their lives.

Just in time for Shiro to abruptly dissolve the contract monsters and end the Rider Battles.

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WHAT.

I bet the characters would have mourned more for Ultra Magnus.

How'd you capture this image set of my brain vs me at any point?

Debatable! And, depending on the continuity, unnecessary!

Yui is all of our neuroses given form and a cute haircut.

The best/worst part is that the very next thing she does is melodramatically shout "I don't want to think about it anymore!" and run out of the tea shop. She becomes that part of us that can't even bear to think Are You Maybe Making Too Much Out Of This without getting even more upset.

Oh, Yui. What is wrong with you?

Her older brother is a morally ambiguous mirror ghost, everyone she knows keeps trying to kill each other, and whenever she asks someone why this is happening, they only give her vague responses before telling her to leave the room!

Are you even watching this show, Die? Because sometimes I just don't know. :p

Wait, that's Yui? I thought Yui was the reporter! Oh, man, I totally ruined this thread. Shit. You don't read one or two (dozen episodes worth of) subtitles... Lemme just get this whole thread deleted by the mods and we'll do it right next time. Thanks for the heads-up!

OK, we know that Ouja is one of the most active evil Rider and is a hardened fighter in human form, but I dislike it when Ouja is wanked beyond what he can do (you kinda do in your ep. 22 when talking about how Asakura is stronger than other Riders). So lemme emphasize, Knight Survive easily wipes the floor with Ouja without any of other Advent Cards whatsoever!!! Knight Survive even shattered Ouja's Strike Vent before it materializes (one of the coolest battle moment in Ryuki IMO), if he acts fast enough he can be a Confine Vent without scanning cards! Ouja would be finished when there weren't a Mirror Monster getting in their way, so now, stop giving double standard treatment for protagonists for "plot armor", like this moment for example! Fun fact is that Ouja was really planned to be finished in this moment, but they decided to keep him alive as a recurring character.

More like Ren is focused on winning the war so (as you said before, still an asshole), one Rider dying without Ren getting too attached to him and thus struggling to kill him is a blessing (and did you forget Eri isn't a Rider, while Tezuka is, Ren is multiple times the asshole to Riders!). Why do you think that Ren feels guilt over Eri? Shiro victimizes Eri (coma) AND Ren by forcing Ren to fight in Rider War as the only way to bring her back while he's powerless to doing anything on Shiro, and Ren is self-destructive towards her because, it's his character (as opposite to Kitaoka in previous episode), he will do anything to what he loves. Well, even Ren also got a form of a grief by looking at the Survive card (burning Raia's Evildiver card in this episode's preview), the card that Tezuka gave to him and may have saved him when he didn't, with the proof of how easily a Survive upgrade beat Ouja earlier.

Oh, this one cover's a bit similar to... the one where I posted screenshots of Shinji, Yui, and Tezuka confronting Shiro each. I probably just like lumping those 3 together based on how all of them being the most good-natured among morally void cast and shared the same objective of saving people from Rider War, which leads to some "analogous" moments like this. The house seems like, a new base for Shiro (similar to Room 401)? It actually is horrific inside where Tezuka got attacked by a monster previously, so being (formerly) afraid of the house is plausible. For Shinji, actually all of them were because it IS what Tezuka doing. Like I said before, Tezuka is a drive for Shinji's characterization and inspires him (with the additional cliche of "inspirational characters die"), so Shinji tries to implement Tezuka's method, continuing his work. Tezuka influences Shinji the most, instead of Ren. So why this comes to you as a surprise that Shinji does what Tezuka does?

Oh no...don't get your hopes up! Talking for both Asakura and Reiko (her wellbeing)! Asakura may just be baiting! And Reiko will become the latest victim this way! (And now it makes me wonder how it goes if Reiko goes to Asakura with Shinji like he wanted, when Asakura sees Shinji and talks about Riders and fighting or probably even shows his Deck, in front of Reiko, what should Shinji do?). And you think Asakura needs to be more developed or he becomes a punchline? I think Asakura is the single most loved character in the fandom and he doesn't have any of that. Asakura looks way to healthy and clean for someone homeless and eating muds!

Oh and before Reiko goes to Asakura, she talked to Kitaoka. It seems that Kitaoka is the primary source to Reiko for informations right now whenever she likes it or not... and this line is gold (and serves you right Kitaoka, cuz dude it's regarding public danger not just your hedonism!)!

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Before the fight, can we also talk a funny ironic moment where Shinji... tells Ren to go away? Even Ren points out it's usually the other way around (but he would immediately do that). I think one of the redeeming moments of Ren is that he will try to save innocents (though he may not particularly care about their fate) if he can like before fighting the monster. And Darkraider (Darkwing's Survive form)'s bike form is based on Honda Shadow. The Final Vent has their role reversed, where before it was Rider being the battering ram with Sword Vent and the monster wrapping him forming a drill, but in Survive it's the monster as a bike being the main battering ram, the Rider being the one enhances it by wrapping the monster with his cape, forming... a missile this time (if the light blue trail is any indication)?

I told you so! Shiro is far more relevant and influental than you think he is at the beginning! He didn't only create like Banno, he has complete control over everything he created!

And the first time she directly saw a Rider death? I think you should also see what she feels about the war just like how would you see how Shinji and Tezuka feels about the war. Her having the same goal (even word-for-word in ep. 19, investigating Shiro is only a method for that) as them would be indication eh?

I mean, Eri may not be a Rider, but she's still a human being like Tezuka, which means Ren's still being a hypocrite for telling them to quit it with the grief when that dude spent almost two dozen episodes nearly killing himself to cure Eri.

And, yeah, I assume there's at least some small amount of guilt driving the guy who has to use the contract monster that nearly killed his girlfriend to try and save her.

My confusion is from Shinji explicitly saying he's not doing things the way Tezuka did. He says that Tezuka tried to change their fates as Riders, he's going to change them as people. I'm just not clear how that's any different in practice, and there's no time in this episode for Shinji to articulate that. (They mostly use the minute where Shinji could to, instead, have him and Ren argue about how Shinji definitely can't read people well enough to accomplish Tezuka's goal anyway, which I liked a lot.)

If he's only going to be around for a storyline, he can be as Pure Evil as the show wants. That's a pretty fun character, for a show that's mostly populated with a variety of justifications. One dude who is pure violence, pure chaos, that's great. But you can't keep doing that story over and over. If we're four storylines later, with deep and nuanced characters talking about the value of principles in a world of survival, and here's ol' Asakura, swinging a metal pipe and demanding people fight him, it's basically an eyeroll and a Here We Go Again. He'd be a joke. There'd be no danger to him (he'd been beat a number of times by then), and nothing you could do with him besides danger. Gotta add some layers if he's going to hang around.

I didn't notice that, about his Final Vent. Neat! Thanks for pointing that out!

The Shinji and Ren moment was great. Honestly, the use of Ren in this whole episode was great. It's nice to see Ren trying (and occasionally failing) to be the friend that Yui and Shinji need right now. I think he reaches out to them as much as he's capable, and he's got that early show thing of him sort-of realizing in the moment how much his approach is caustic, or unhelpful. This little smile of Hey Man I Want To Help But I'm Definitely Going To Say Something Insulting Just FYI. I like that he never seems frustrated by Shinji in this episode, he's never punishing him. He's just doing his Ren thing of not sugar-coating, and expecting people to challenge him enough to get their heads on straight. It's a real Ren episode, this one, and only a little because of Knight Survive.

Yeah both Eri and Tezuka are human being, but it should be obvious that a person doesn't treat every human being equally (like prefering friends to strangers, etc.). I personally think it's just Ren's character to do anything for what he loves to the point of self-destructing no matter what the situation, I mean like, his dedication for the likes of Eri would be the same even if Eri's totally normal; isn't put in coma or something so by that I don't think it's out of guilt. Gotta check his image song "Lonely Soldier" for more of this.

Probably my take is that Tezuka only touches the Rider aspect of someone (like killing others, Rider motives, etc.), while Shinji touches their daily life aspect of someone too.

Lol just treat Asakura as a force of nature and a human-shaped monster.

Exactly just like when Shinji "accidentally" kills Zolda before, you didn't cover on that though.

Sure, I can see that. I'd be into Shinji having one-on-one time with every other Rider, getting them to abandon the Rider Battles so long as Shinji solves all of their problems. Like, Shinji studying hard in medical school for six months to try and cure Eri before she dies, Shinji studying hard in medical school for six months to cure Kitaoka before he dies... honestly, I think these folks got burned by having to depend on Shinji as their savior Rider. Where's Kino from Agito when you need him? That dude could get all these folks to give up on Rider Battles in one epic surgery!

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 25

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This one... it's not that good. It's maybe even bad?

I'm straining to think of something that worked in this episode, but between anticlimaxes, obvious turns, and general sense of What Is This For, this was a disappointingly weak outing.

Like, great cliffhanger from last episode. Shiro has dissolved the Riders' contracts, robbing them of their powers and setting their monsters loose to try and kill them. Bad news for our heroes! What dastardly scheme could Shiro have in mind that would cause such a massive HA HA just kidding he wants Ren and Shinji to go visit Yui at the beach because she's sad. That's... that's it?! They show up, a monster chases them into a building (where they just leave Yui on the beach?), Shiro says Everything's Going To Be Okay, and then they get their powers back, no one gets hurt. Wh... WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS?! There was no other way to have Shiro talk to Yui? He's popped in for cryptic chats a half-dozen times without imperiling a Rider to do it, why does he need to threaten to kill Shinji and Ren this time? It's like pointing a gun at someone to get them to say hello. Seems like an unnecessary escalation! Definitely doesn't warrant that level of terror! It's a total bummer, that a cliffhanger with so much potential was in service of nothing, narratively. Yui feels a little better despite zero new information (it's literally just Shiro telling her to feel better!), Shinji re-emphasises his commitment to helping Riders as people, and Ren... is there, too? It's a bafflingly hollow part of the story. Accomplishes nothing, in service of nothing. Weird and frustrating.

The Asakura stuff is not any better, but for different reasons. As Asakura tells Reiko his tragic backstory, how he tried to save his little brother from a fire, he's so earnest and sad. Which, of course, means he's 1000% lying. It's so obvious that it's funny at first, then dull and predictable afterwards. It means that every single scene of Reiko and Shinji planning out Asakura's redemption makes them look like idiots. It's so clear he's lying, for so long in this episode, that it's weird that no one even entertains the possibility that he's not being honest. A lot of my problems with this storyline could've been fixed if there'd been, like, twenty seconds of them saying he might be lying, but maybe it's worth the risk, blah blah blah. But that's nowhere in this episode. (Even Ren doesn't bring it up!) Reiko and Shinji see what they want to see, and Asakura ends up murdering his brother and knocking out Reiko. I'm sort-of okay with Shinji looking like an idiot, but, man, no idea why whip-smart reporter Reiko is so easily taken in by Asakura's bullshit. It's a huge leap for her to try and rehabilitate a guy who, at the very least, has been brutalizing people for over a decade, and just held a child hostage. I get that she wants to understand him better, but does that have to mean taking everything he says as gospel? I don't think that's how investigative reporting is supposed to work!

Even the minor Kitaoka thing in this episode, where we find out that Goro wants to be there for him since he feels responsible for Kitaoka's illness not getting treated quickly, I don't know why we need to know that now? It's an okay scene, but it exists in a weird isolation, Goro expositing stuff Kitaoka should already know in, like, the middle of an afternoon. It's just... there, without needing to be there. Not a bad scene, but deployed in a bizarrely random way.

Yeah, this episode, it's a bad one. Nearly every show has at least one, but I hope this one's it for Ryuki.

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It's okay, Die, you were just in the Inoue Zone for the last two episodes! Things will be back to normal next time.

But, yeah, there are some weak payoffs in that episode for sure. If I were Kobayashi, I'd have probably been real angry that epic cliffhanger concept was now forever wasted on a fairly inconsequential story beat.

You have no idea how close I was to just posting this gif for a review and leaving it at that:

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I don't think they got burned by Shinji being the savior Rider, they just don't want anyone to get on the way of their wishes, whoever the "savior Rider" is. Yeah I meant one-on-one time with Riders, but six months for that (What about Kitaoka's illness??)... well Rider War cannot last forever so....

I know this is Inoue episode, and probably my questions below can be answered as "because it's Inoue made", but let's talk about other things here; so Ouja has another Contract card, which he uses to capture another monster that seeks him for revenge (Evildiver). I guess this is lowkey another difficulty of Rider War, if you properly kill other Riders, you'll get their Contract Monsters as your eternal enemy. And he has another card which is Unite Vent, to combine each of his Contract Monsters, forming Genocider (one of the things I like about Ouja, Rider-wise). It seems that Ouja's Deck is intentionally given more Contract cards as to utilize the Unite Vent. But I have to ask what happened to Raia's Deck? It didn't seem to be destroyed but Evildiver still hunts Ouja. I wonder if he got Copy or Confine Vent from those 2 (the PS1 game lets you to use Copy in Ouja's Raia Deck, yet not in his Genocider Deck)? If not then it's actually a balance that Ouja only picks monsters with 1 weapon card. Still more Advents and Final Vents though.

Yeah, it's so extravagant for Shiro to threaten people (which are her closest friends, by the way) just for this scenario to happen, though I can't judge if this is a writing flaw or a character flaw (like your Ren's cover in Tezuka's debut) with him by being so out of reality where he's all about TATAKAE (pacifist people? ah not they're just cowardly to TATAKAE) even on simple scenario. Which "leave on the beach" you talk about? When Shinji and Ren hide from monster or when they go with Reiko? For the former, why blame them? They are chased by a monster without their powers to fight back, driving them to hide in the building, they're again, being threatened just for a private talk. However, why Shiro didn't do this when Yui was like, kidnapped before, instead doing this when she wanders outside alone? I have to give credit to Auntie here that she relents and did properly help Shinji and Ren here. What Shiro did was actually attempting to continue his lie to her from ep. 19, using his childhood self (he never let go of that) as an excuse. I don't really think Yui felt better, she's still not convinced by him when he disappears, and compare her reaction to Shinji's vow (he only told Ren in previous episode, now he tells her here) in early episodes, to this episode. Wdym "Ren… is there, too"?

Asakura's story is just a bait for his humane qualities but actually it's not only lies, but it served to make Asakura more evil than he already has; he didn't save anyone from the burn, he started it! And also explains how petty he is to just kill Akira because he bugs him. I think shouldn't it be Asakura being good at lying you talk about here, with him pulling an earnest act convincingly? Asakura's got some street smart despite being a homeless dude (and he still seemed like an ordinary criminal/murderer to others, not one of the most depraved being in the whole KR franchise). I forgot a bit about this, but has Shinji received character development regarding people's morality before this moment? If not then this is just a valuable lesson for Shinji (albeit at a great cost) as the clearest proof that depraved human beings without redeeming qualities do, exist. As for Reiko, her no-nonsense demeanor and task-oriented approach bites herself and others in the ass hard here. She probably cannot relate and understand people properly due to much focus on that, and that made her indirectly commit murder, and became the latest victim in the series (to Asakura, both being guilible and KOed). Or maybe that she just underestimated Asakura, even Shinji (knew Asakura is a Rider) calls her out for being reckless, but as far as she concerned, he's just an ordinary criminal that didn't attack her when she confronted him. For Ren, I feel like he doesn't really care, he probably wanted to use Asakura's treachery to gloat to them, though have to give a credit to him for a moment next episode.

Oh, and this also explains another of Asakura's trait, he's someone who's obsessed with finishing what he started. Like to Riders, his catchphrase when fighting Riders he wanted to kill is "a continuation from yesterday". And this episode, even when Akira isn't with him anymore, which means he should be free from his annoyance, focused to reunite with him anyway just to complete his mission when he was a kid; killing him.

Also despite all of that, I can't resist to make these (corny) jokes:
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Didn't you see something Shinji and Ren brought to you there?

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I'm confused there which Niisan you talk about? Your older brother or the car you're in?

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His older brother commanding Venosnaker to eat him or Nissan X-Trail's windshield unleasing Venosnaker?

Jokes aside, my other question for the episode is where did Shinji and Ren get that Nissan X-Trail?

Lol, I got a feeling that you just lump that scene together for complaints. Yeah it's made to explain why Goro is so damn loyal to Kitaoka. I feel that this scene happened because Kitaoka's illness started to take a toll on him including Rider War where it's shown in Zolda vs Knight before. Goro, seeing Kitaoka suffer from illness like this feels like he indirectly killed Kitaoka by having him defend him in law instead of treating his illness, so he wants to return the favor by doing everything (not blindly but ep. 14...) for Kitaoka. Especially that at one point here Kitaoka lets Goro leave him if he wants.

Car rental I guess. :lolol

Ouja is OP AF. This show's gotta nerf Asakura. Have they never heard of game balance? Hopefully Shiro's next patch will --- oh, wait, this isn't the video game Kamen Rider. These other guys are pretty screwed, then!

-Yui's been sad before, and Shiro never felt the need to cancel the premise of the show to cheer her up, so I'm going to lay this one at the feet of bad writing.

-When the mirror monster attacks, Ren and Shinji run for cover and just leave Yui standing on the beach. By herself. Are they that sure the monster is going to ignore Yui? Seems like a pretty big gamble. I get that she needed to stay behind to have her conversation with Shiro, but there's no in-story reason for Shinji and Ren to abandon Yui like that.

-Ren doesn't really gain anything from the scene after Yui and Shiro talk. He's just standing around. It was weird to have him just, like, waiting them to get in the car or something. He could've used some lines!

Right, but why are we we being told that now, in the midst of the rest of this story? I don't dislike the scene, I dislike how incongruent it is to the rest of the episode. It functions like an obligatory check-in, some contractual thing (no pun intended), rather than something that flowed naturally in the story.

He was so powerful that he got completely kicked out of the Kamen Rider Climax games at some point!

Is it time for my updated meme yet? Now with added Ryuki-specifics!
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I wonder Japanese kids in the early 2000s were, like, banning other kids from playing as Ouja. He's the cheapest character, you know? If you won by using Ouja, you basically cheated.

I get that reference now!

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 26

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One of the things I think this show does well is how it takes aspects of Shinji's personality that could be annoying or ineffective, but turns them into strengths. This episode was, for me, a showcase for everything that's irritating about Shinji and why I love those things.

Shinji's motivation in this one is muddled. Now that Asakura is utterly irredeemable, Shinji's decided to focus his rehabilitation energy on Kitaoka, Kamen Rider Scumbag. Shinji wants to break through to Kitaoka, to get him to reform and give up the Rider Battles. Barring that, he hopes to at least figure out why Kitaoka's fighting. The main problem is he basically has no plan of attack. Working from, I guess, the Yui school of Getting What You Want By Being Pathetic And Annoying, Shinji shows up at Kitaoka's house and just sort-of hopes for the best. It's a terrible plan, and Shinji's obviously desperate, so of course Kitaoka takes advantage and gets Shinji to clean his house, make his lunch, and generally be Goro For A Day.

(Speaking of, holy shit does Goro clean up nice!)

The idea of throwing Shinji and Kitaoka together isn't a new one, but it's still an incredibly smart one. They've got great comedic rhythm, with Kitaoka manipulating the trusting Shinji and Shinji barely able to get the vain and lazy Kitaoka to take things seriously. They're so goddamn funny together. There's a ton of little bits of business that cracked me up. Like, during their first drive, trailing the threatening dudes, Kitaoka keeps turning the rearview mirror to look at himself, and Shinji keeps turning it back to drive. It's a little bit of physical comedy, but it's so on-point that it was killing me. Or, Jesus, the fact that Kitaoka immediately tries to get the thugs to beat up Shinji instead of him. Like, immediately. He doesn't try and bluff or haggle or anything, he's just, like, Please Beat Up This Guy Instead Of Me. This whole episode was a laugh.

But, as with all of the really great Ryuki episodes, it's a thrilling and funny installment that also does outstanding character work. Shinji's weird insistence on throwing himself into situations he really doesn't understand and can't clearly articulate what his plan is, this is not a good thing about him. If things work out for him, it's dumb luck, and if things don't work out, they probably shouldn't have anyway. And yet, I never seem to be able to get mad at Shinji for not having a better plan in this episode. When he believes in something, he can't just wait until he's got a good idea. He'd rather do the wrong thing than do nothing, you know? He can't wait things out. And that's why he hangs out with Kitaoka, hoping something will happen that'll give him direction.

And it does! But not really how it seemed like it was going to. In trying to get through to Kitaoka, and largely just becoming his maid, Shinji gets that this cause, of trying to rehabilitate Kitaoka... it's someone else's motivation. He'd like Kitaoka to give up the Rider Battles, to fight for justice, but that's not why Shinji became a Kamen Rider. In a scene that feels for all the world like the writer grabbing the show and getting it back on track, Shinji realizes that he wants to save people from monsters. That's it. He'd rather other Riders not fight each other, but that's their decision, and they have to live with it. He can't fix Kitaoka any more than he could fix Asakura or even Ren. He can do what he thinks is right, follow his own moral compass, help other Riders as much as they let him, and feel content with that. Other people's choices are other people's choices.

Weirdly, in a way, that might be how Shinji best changes the fates of the other Riders. Not by some judgemental lecturing, or urgent pleading, but by being an example for them to aspire to. By being Kamen Rider Ryuki, a dopey, earnest, honest, confident hero.

I think one of the reasons why all those elements work is because of how the show plays Shinji off of the other Riders. This episode, obviously, it's the Kitaoka Show (my favorite show), but there's a few moments with Ren that makes Shinji's character better. Ren's needling, his little digs at Shinji's optimism and empathy, it's a big way the show let's you laugh at Shinji's poorly-considered perseverance, or his overly-trusting nature, or his goofiness (like, he really thinks cleaning windows is going to get Kitaoka to stop trying to kill other Riders?), while still letting those attributes have value. It's... it's that Ren cares enough to say This Is Stupid that makes it not stupid, if that makes any sense. That he pushes back on Shinji's goals and worldview, forcing Shinji to live his words more, or better consider what he wants. Ren sharpens Shinji. It's a great dynamic they have right now, where there's this friendship that has radically opposed philosophies as its foundation. If the phrase Agree To Disagree came to life, it'd look a lot like this friendship.

Speaking of friendships! Yui's back, and she's pretty great in this one? It's mostly just her and Ren, and it's not a ton of scenes, but I like what's here. Their first one, where Yui gets to set up her current outlook, it's nicely direct. Yui's been a... let's say problematic character for me, but in one scene they reposition her in a way where I get what the show's doing with her. She's got a bit more grit now, a bit of resolve, where her mission to get through to Shiro feels optimistic, rather than shapeless. Yui's a good mirror to Shinji in this one, with both of them tired of sitting around second-guessing their options, instead just pressing forward. I like this version of Yui, a version that isn't saying Why Me all the time. I much prefer this new one, who seems to be saying If Me, Then I Have Some Control. It's a good look on Yui!

Honestly, I'm not sure if this was a great episode, or just a really good episode that looks great in comparison to the previous episode. I don't know. This one was great, though. Terrifically funny, massively insightful, and with a thrilling fight sequence that I totally forgot to talk about so, uh, let's do that now ha ha WHOOPS. All of the card switching stuff between Ryuki and Zolda was awesome. Great gags, with Ryuki getting blasted while Kitaoka got stronger, but also a really good visualization for how much stronger they are by cooperating. Oh, and I dug how Kitaoka was like, Of Course My Cards Only Work For Me, like he got some sort of instruction manual that Shinji didn't. It's not the case, Shiro doesn't seem huge on documentation or a Rider Battle onboarding process ("Welcome to Rider Battles. Fight or Die. Any questions? Keep in mind, all of the answers are going to be Fight and/or Die."), but I'm okay with Shinji being perennially the least-informed Rider. It's fitting. That fight, though. Man! It was fantastic. No! It was excellent.

Just like this episode! That I can't believe I had this much to say about! Fish Sandwich's brand-new "Fish Sandwich rewatches Kamen Rider Kuuga" thread must be affecting me. I'd probably be better off posting these feelings in Deepsea's new "General Kamen Rider Thoughts" thread. #ad

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ryuki/ryuki26b.png

It's funny that you think Shirou has more than one answer.

It feels nice to get mentioned by name in a thread where I wasn't expecting. Thanks Die! I need to watch ryuki so I can read this thread.

How dare you! Shiro has been shown to be conversant on a wide variety of topics:

1. Fighting
2. Dying
3. Mirrors
4. Yui
5. Cards
6. Probably the optimal trench coat for spring and summer in a Mirror World, just making assumptions off of visual cues
7. He's definitely got some opinions on David Foster Wallace, I mean just look at him
8. I wonder what sports Shiro is into
9. I mean, everybody's into some sport
10. I wonder if it's soccer
11. Or "football", whatever
12. He's got the general build for it
13. I hope it's something really weird, though
14. Like dude's encyclopedic on Jai alai
15. Just played a shit-ton of it at some prep school
16. And now he brings it up whenever people at a party talk about baseball or basketball, just a total dick about it
17. All this Rider Battle stuff is just him hoping someone'll bring up a sport
18. So then he can say, "Oh, I played a little Jai alai in prep school.
19. Do you know anything about the sport?"
20. Super condescending, and he's got no sense of when people don't care
21. What an asshole

So, there you have it! Fully twenty-one things that we've seen Shiro talk about on Ryuki. Check and MATE, Fish Sandwich, if that's even your real name.

I think I need to start watching it, too! People have been saying some interesting things about it.

Lol good, actually want more of this, though lately you seem to reply less... And jumping on that post too.

Dude actually I asked not to wank Asakura, with my emphasis of Survive form Riders easily beating him before. And did I already talk about his balance? He has only 1 weapon cards from each monsters, but he compensates with more Advents and Final Vents.

For this episode, Genocider's new trait seems to be explosive spits instead of corrosive ones like Venosnaker. Explosives can be more harmful, but corrosive has long-lasting effect as an advantage I guess. I think I don't really like his Evildiver Final Vent clashing evenly with Knight Survive's Final Vent here. Ordinary Evildiver's FV has standard 5000 AP, Knight Survive's one has 8000 AP.

Lol the above one is a funny complaint, because something later...

They should've played the scene where the monster continuously chases them and drive them to the hiding spot. O̶r̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶I̶n̶o̶u̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶f̶f̶?̶

Why would Ren do anything there? Shinji was telling the other companion the same thing he told to Ren, which Ren disagrees heavily. If anything one thing he wanted to do in his mind was probably mock him again, which would ruin the situation (and kind of behavior she disapproves heavily).

I don't think it's random? It's connected with a previous episode where Kitaoka's illness started to affect him in Rider fights where Ren remarked that he's weaker. It's more than just Ren being an asshole for turning a compliment back to him, it's a plot point where irony starts to catch up to Zolda (be a Rider to cure his illness, but cannot go on due to his illness), the illness continues until Goro notices.

For Shinji, it seems like a recurring trait of Kobayashi protagonists (oh, Eiji for OOO, something you watched). They will try to act and help even if they don't have the answers. For Yui makes you think that she's genuinely sad a few episodes before, but she was only acting to you in that one time? I mean Goro is his servant, cleaning up is one of his main jobs.

A sad moment is that Kitaoka didn't get to try to taste Shinji's gyoza either, just like Ren previously, just to force Kitaoka to acknowledge Shinji in that too (Goro, an excellent cook, enjoys it). If I would take a page from Ex-Aid, it seems that Kitaoka can do good (protecing his guests so he wouldn't be suspected) if it's to benefit himself so manipulate him into doing good things like M did at the other doctor Riders fighting Graphite? Though it's actually morally grey people who do that.

Kitaoka manipulating Shinji even extends to them in a fight. The reaction of Ryuki is just priceless that all the weapons are given to Zolda even if Ryuki scanned them. I like when a "douche" is saying undeniable truths that has no ill intention but got to be taken hard by others like "my cards work for me". But Ryuki also shows his another unpredictable fight tactics here to strike back. Summoning Magnugiga, he knocks Zolda aside to use Magnugiga as Guard Vent (despite not being able to move at all, Magnugiga was unflinched by the attacks...), and keep hiding behind it to scan his Strike Vent card and finish his opponent. Zolda even acknowledges this part of him! But overall, what I like about that moment apart from being funny is that the series gives more explanations of how Advent Cards work here.

Well to be honest regarding Rider War, I don't really know what is the actually right and reliable way to stop it. One way I thought about was killing every other Riders, trying to win and use the wish to undo the damages of the War, but that's a huge risk for a probably futile extremist way, and it's also the lesson for Ren to detach your humanity to kill other people. Or just adopt a greyer look and decide that irredeemable bastards deserve to die. Rider War is filled with morally ambiguous people that were properly chosen by Shiro, where by that logic the only purely good Riders are Shinji and Tezuka, both weren't picked. Even aside from Asakura, changing other morally ambiguous people seems to be a generally impossible task (this series, various other series except by bad writing for easy solution, and real life) like to someone such as Ren, Kitaoka, etc. Shinji's clumsiness and naivety may be the cause behind this, but even Tezuka didn't fare any better than this (other than inspiring Shinji), so I just view the Rider War problem as a whole no matter who it is. Aside from all of that, the Rider War in nature forces everyone to keep fighting or die, if Shinji actually did manage to change the Riders to stop fighting, would it spell doom to them?

Sure, Shinji's aim is to save people. But the realization next is that he needs to save Riders too as they are also people, he wants to stop the Rider War because he wants to prevent people getting killed, that includes Riders getting killed by one another. His other dilemma is "Other people's choices are other people's choices" which would contradict his aim to save people including Riders. Though I guess, you shouldn't let a felon do anything bad they want because of their selfish desire under a mindset of "you cannot decide other person's life" like not arresting them, robbing them from their decision and activities.

His idealism and innocence is his actual strength in what he does. Though being an example (as in morality) would just get him labelled as weak, naive, and stupid perhaps by those psychos... But how his trait actually works will surprise you later on.

Yeah, for Ren I gotta give him credit for trying to spare the awful truth to Reiko when they left the scene by just saying Akira ran away, and using that as a proof that Asakura is an iredeemable monster (I agree with Ren this time to let him die like you treat a monster, though Shinji wants him imprisoned), though later he as usual, uses that proof to mock Shinji as being ineffectual. Ren wants Shinji to drop his morality (he sees it as weakness and tried to detach it from himself too), but it makes Shinji more determined. Same as Ren still an asshole before, Ren influencing Shinji this way (world's not black/white) also wouldn't change/corrupt Shinji's ways. They are primary-secondary Riders, but their roles in story are each as big as Shotaro-Philip. And speaking of ORE, at the end, so cameras can capture Mirror stuffs that is in the Mirror World (seen in reflection)?

I guess that's supposed to be the character development? Taking all the pain and hurt she has obtained, have a break down moment, but use that as a resolve to keep doing the mission. Speaking of "good mirror to Shinji", I will apply the talk about how Rider War seeming impossible to solve above for Shinji, to Yui here too, especially if you talk about how it feels optimistic, moreover with her lacking Rider's powers. Apart from topics like changing morally ambiguous person (Shiro) said above, I will also ask here how to fix the damages caused by Rider War? Already displayed before in an ill-fated cliffhanger Shiro has complete control over Riders and monsters to stop them, but he seemingly didn't have any non-offensive power yet (other than the wish, but the wish only can be granted by killing all other Riders).

Dunno if Shinji is the least-informed one, there are newer Riders than him like Ouja or something but probably they just don't care about informations for Riders, monsters, Mirror World, etc, they just want to fight.

Not sure how much of a spoiler this is, but this week’s attacking monster ended up gaining some notoriety a few years later, for reasons I’m sorely tempted to post a picture of, but I have too many scruples to do that. (That, and I don’t know how to Mark spoilers on forums).

I'm only one man! I'm doing my best!

I just read it as Ouja escaping in the explosion. But, yeah, tough to tell since the next scene is Ren driving away.

But I love it when Ren deflates a situation but saying something vaguely insulting and rude. That's one of his best attributes.

I don't know, for me, it felt like information for information's sake. "Oh, we should give Goro's origin now." The events that occur in the scene are a necessary part of the overall story for Kitaoka, but it felt like they were shoehorned into this episode. Maybe it's only something that bothers me? If you felt like it was more organic, that's totally fine.

hahahaha

It's definitely a strength of the show that, halfway through, there's no great way to stop the Rider Battles. There's a feeling that what they're doing is wrong, but everyone participates anyway. Narratively, it's a great cage for the characters, something where there's only bad options.

Man, to me, the meat of the episode and a huge turning point for Shinji's character is him deciding that "saving other Riders" has to be secondary. The more he tries to save Riders who don't want it, the greater the risk that he won't be there to save innocents. At a certain point, you have to decide how to do the greater good, and I feel like in this one Shinji decides to make stopping monsters and saving innocents his primary goal.

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 27

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There's a bunch of little storyline things that happen in this episode (Yui and Shiro severing their familial bond, Kitaoka's worsening condition, Eri's fluctuating health, Shiro being a confirmed ghost, and a Brand New Rider at the end), but let's be real. This episode is 100% about how Kamen Riders aren't cool and you shouldn't enjoy their fighting because it's serious and dangerous and not cool.

Which, of course, is why this episode has an amazing sequence where Ren, in human form, cold cocks a monster so hard it falls down a flight of stairs:

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Amazing. Amazing. I feel like, the producers, they wondered if Ren just being a Kamen Rider would be cool enough for this kid to be obsessed (hell yes!), and since they weren't certain they devised the goddamn coolest way for Ren to enter a scene. It's enormously bad-ass. No wonder this kid wants to be a Rider.

Takuya's story is a sweet little done-in-one, a way for the show to have its cake and eat it too. The Riders get to kick ass and be heroic, while also serving as a stern warning to Not Try This At Home. It's... variably successful. The ways that Shinji, Goro, and Ren all interact with Takuya are great. They've got nice chemistry, with Ren as a bemused older brother, Shinji as an overmatched babysitter, and Goro as the beating heart of the group. The comedy lands great, the kid's motivation is dead-on (didn't we all want to be superheroes as kids so we could be awesome?), and there's a nice progression to the story. It's protection, then caring, then the lesson. That lesson, that being a Kamen Rider is serious and not something you should want to be... man, I don't know. I get what they're doing. I get that they're trying to sell hideous stakes to a group of kids who are probably shouting FIGHT OR DIE at their TVs every week. You need to occasionally remind them that this is a series built around terrible choices and moral ambiguity, that no one in their right mind should want to be a Kamen Rider. But, of course kids should want to be Kamen Riders. They're heroes with special powers and cool costumes, and so much of what Shinji's about as a character is an object lesson for impressionable children: help each other, protect people, try not to murder your opponents. I feel like Takuya running away from the battle at the end... it's a bit much. I think there's a way to reinforce stakes without casting the show as a merciless abattoir. Gotta be a lower gear than that.

Oh, and one other thing about Takuya. I really liked how he's introduced trying to henshin in the mirror. I think that's (and I can't remember if we've talked about it) a positive bit of world-building Ryuki did, to make the at-home role-play part so easy for kids. I assume there were a ton of kids shouting HENSHIN into mirrors in Japanese homes, much to the chagrin of parents. That's cute, that kids could pretend to be Kamen Riders so easily.

I mean, not cute. Terrible, regrettable, horrifying. Kamen Riders aren't cool!

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Yes, Riders are heroes who stand for virtuous ideals like human freedom, the value of life, and all kinds of other things... that this kid doesn't understand or care about one bit.

The point Ryuki is trying to make there, that I think it does quite well, is that "I'm good at action games!" is not proper motivation to be a hero. Worshiping violence is not a heroic trait. Shinji doesn't fight monsters because fighting monsters is "cool". He does it because he knows the weight a person's death carries, and wants to prevent that from ever happening. Ren, too, does what he does to protect someone who matters to him.

What Takuya perceives being a Rider as is something different than that entirely, and is arguably closest to how Asakura treats being a Rider. Something to do for fun. A hobby. The attitude the show presents Takuya with, I think is a really good recreation of the misunderstanding of what makes superheroes heroic that a lot of small children genuinely have, and that's what makes the episode work. That kind of tautological notion that heroes are people who beat up bad guys, and the bad guys are bad because the heroes beat them up. They don't look up to the chance to do good in the world so much as the status they believe comes with it. Heroes always win, and everyone loves them.

I think what Ryuki was doing above all else with that episode, which is a very Kamen Rider thing to do, is remind the kids at home that life ain't that simple a lot of the time, and it's a storyline particularly well tailored to Ryuki specifically, with its premise of morally grey characters fighting for causes that often seem hopeless.

I don't disagree! I think the message the show has in this story is valuable. I'd argue that the conclusion leans a little too heavily on the negative consequences of being a Kamen Rider, to the detriment of the visceral thrills of watching Kamen Rider. (That Ren punch! Come ON.)

There's a touch of miserablism to Shinji's speech to Takuya, where it ceases to be "being a Rider is about more than violence", and starts to be "behold our terrible burden, our lives are agony until a sudden, irrevocable end". (I'm paraphrasing.) I think there's a way the show could've shaped that scene a little better, to not have a child who idolized Riders run away in tears. You know? Shit, if I wanted to watch a Kobayashi show about how no one should ever want to be a Kamen Rider, I'd just watch Amazons again.

Like, and I don't know if I'm belaboring my point or what, there's a miscalibration to that scene for me. The lesson, it's valuable. Kamen Rider was changing, and, while I don't truck with Showa and might be misinformed here, the idea of Fighting Darkness With Darkness was something the franchise was sort-of evolving out of. (My take on Kamen Rider's theme going forward from Agito into what else I've seen in the Heisei era is The Value Of Empathy In A World Of Violence, but that's a better topic for the General Thoughts thread.) Spending some time to give weight to the consequences of being a Rider, to spotlight their goals and desires as more than just Fighting, especially in a show that's literally about them having to fight, yes. Making it seem like they've all been handed a death sentence, no.

It... the whole thing with Takuya, it's a Scared Straight ending that feels too dark for me. It's like he had a piece of cake for dessert, and then when he wanted a second one his parents gave him a 20-minute presentation on juvenile obesity and diabetic complications. Like, man, you can send a message without traumatizing children, can't you?

Why do you think that? I disagree as if anything this idea of taking the power of evil and using it for good has become more blantent than it ever has imo.

It's a long explanation, and I shouldn't have brought it up since it's not 100% relevant and it'd kind-of derail things. (I mean, What Is The Theme Of Kamen Rider is sort-of not this thread's mandate?) I've gotta think a bit more about it, and then it'll land in the General Thoughts thread for people to pick it apart.

Short version, I think the show has evolved out of Fighting Darkness With Darkness and more into trying to use the hero's darkness to say something about the universality of darkness, and how seeing that it in one another allows us to stop viewing other people as monsters and more as someone that can be reached with empathy.

This is just my take, though! Me talking about this in another thread will have a bunch of disclaimers to that effect!

I mean there's a very literal version of this in final fight with Emu and Parad's relationship and their final fight as enemies. Parad the entire series is shown to be unempathetic towards others. When Emu makes Parad confront his growing fear of death Parad learns to be empathetic and care about others. Emu in defeating Parad but saving him shows that he understands that people can be reached which is kind of a theme Ex-aid actually.

On a more thread related note, this thread just reminded me there was an RP Rider war but with MLP characters as inspiration for designs and character, and that sure was a thing.

There are definitely time limit for Kitaoka here, now Kitaoka has to dirty his hands more leaving his plan to let other Riders kill themselves first, obeying what Shiro told in couple episodes before. The only things that anger Yui are vile actions, and it comes full circle here when Shiro reveals himself here as an irredeemable bastard with god complex who is indifferent to all the victims. Here Shiro also exhibits abusive behavior by ordering and threatening her around. So now it's revealed someone aloof like Ren would only get close to someone for certain benefit (at first), but how Ren doesn't show any animosity to Yui? And also like Kitaoka, Ren's time is definitely limited too with Eri's deteriorating condition. About the new Rider, before I said Knight Survive is my second favorite design, and my first favorite is Odin right there.

This is already shown in previous episodes however. Riders in human forms fending off Mirror Monsters. Shinji too, dammit (and people i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶u̶y̶a̶ keep calling Shinji weak?), and Kitaoka too in previous episode. Wish more people get Takuya treatment in this series to see that Riders and Mirror Monsters exist, where for a kid like him it's totally cool, and probably horrific but gives them preparation for regular people.

I think most of the "Rider" lesson of this episode is already covered by Fish Sandwich above, including how sometimes superhero shows skew the perception of a hero badly to children. so gotta talk about the others. Other than that, the most important thing, for Ryuki, as Shinji attests, is that being a Rider here is eternal, there are no "switch off", unlike typical Riders which you may quit, or probably for Takuya, give up when it's getting too scary, so there's a little difference for Ryuki. Ironically Shinji, the "fool naive newcomer" of Riders, acknowledges that burden as Rider and is the one to teach that to others, while he also learns to know deception (he was confused at first when Ren goes to fight) that Ren fights flashy, then purposely lose to scare Takuya. I feel that it's conveniently brutal for Takuya, Ren only planned to show how difficult it is to fight monsters, then the real horror of Rider Battle comes when Kitaoka and Asakura joins the fight, turning the planned monster struggle show into a survival of humans show.

Goro is... another "victim" here like Takuya? He too is traumatized seeing the Riders in action for the first time due to watching Kitaoka fight like that. Has Goro (an accomplished cook btw) gotten Shinji's gyoza lesson yet? If not then it's unfortunate all due to Takuya where someone has to look after when Shinji and Ren joins the fight. And congratulations for Ren to make Auntie warm up to him, now she thinks that Takuya may be his little brother or son instead of something bad in mind for Ren. And Shinji's debt to Ren is even growing...for petty reasons. He wasn't lying when he told Shinji his debt was 100k in ep. 10!

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Yeah, I sort-of figured that Ren wouldn't care too much about Yui's feelings of responsibility. That whole exchange, it's what I wanted to see way back in the Ren Has Narratively Convenient Amnesia two-parter. For all of the ways that he's suffering to save Eri, he doesn't seem like a dude who plays the blame game. He knows it's Shiro's fault, so he's not going to let Yui throw herself under that bus. Ren... I'm really liking Ren in these few episodes, with him feeling like a more emotionally healthy member of the team.

I mean, there've been interactions, pushing and shoving and a kick or two, but that punch by Ren was epic. I've seen Rider Kicks that had less on them than that punch. Look at the speedlines in that first screencap!

It's a great running joke, and I'm so glad that Ren has an itemized bill for Shinji, instead of just making up higher and higher amounts. There's a dedication that Ren has to being an asshole to Shinji that is, to me, no less heroic than his actions as Kamen Rider Knight. These two torturing each other forever? I mean, that is some Relationship Goals right there.

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 28

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EPISODE 1

EPISODE 2

EPISODE 3

EPISODE 4

EPISODE 5

EPISODE 6

EPISODE 7

EPISODE 8

EPISODE 9

EPISODE 10

EPISODE 11

EPISODE 12

EPISODE 13

EPISODE 14

EPISODE 15

EPISODE 16

EPISODE 17

EPISODE 18

EPISODE 19

EPISODE 20

EPISODE 21

EPISODE 22

EPISODE 23

EPISODE 24

EPISODE 25

EPISODE 26

EPISODE 27

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(Shiro made Shinji live the entire series over again so he could undo his fight with Yui, I guess. I super hated this episode. I wish it had just been a clip show. This was way more frustrating.)

For me the whole thing was worth it for Shinji "I dedicated so much time, effort and energy and went through so many possible odds PURELY SO I COULD PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE" Kido

I actually really like this episode it a clip show but it dosen't feel lazy to me. Our new Rider litterly have the power to bend time giving a really strong debut. Phus facilitating a in universe explanation for why where seeing all of this again. And Shinji response torwards all of this and actually landing a hit on the guy was pretty hype. (Then again I'm a sucker for time travel so lots of bias here)

Oh I don't know if this has been brought up before, but I like the fact that they split the classic rider helmet design elements between Ryuki, Knight, and Zolda. Ryuki gets the compound eyes, Knight gets the teeth, and Zolda the antenna.

I'm not particularly interested in disagreeing with you on episode 28, but I am sad you didn't end up liking it. It's always been a favorite of mine, and the whole "I became a Rider to protect people! And that means I can protect Riders too!!!" bit is like, the definitive Shinji quote. For what it's worth, here's my take on the episode.

I think the key difference might be that I'm looking at it as a clip-show that got clever, and not something trying to be clever that turned into a clip-show.

That was a good part (the bookend fight scenes are legitimately cool), but it felt so minor to what was a twenty-odd minute story. The payoff just wasn't worth it for me.

I really really really hated that all of this was something that wasn't about Shinji at all. The entire story is just so Yui won't hate Shiro, and that totally bugs me. It was a status quo they established in the previous episode. (I'm assuming that's what the ending is saying. If I'm wrong, then this clip show is doing even less work, and I'm probably madder at it.) This all feels like an unnecessarily long path to undo something that just happened.

Worse, it doesn't really do anything with Shinji reliving the timeline. He can't change anything, but he gets just enough flashes to try and change things, but he can't change anything. Past the first scene, for me, there's an enormous amount of frustration built into the premise. That's by design, but I hate that design. The frustration's there to validate the catharsis of Strike Vent To Impossible Opponent, but, again, I just didn't feel like that payoff was sufficient. I might've if the secret of why this all had to happen didn't completely suck (Shiro keeps using big moves to make Yui feel better, it's completely his thing, and I still hate it), but I think it did, so it wasn't working for me.

Like, at all.