Sure! It's definitely an episode that, like the Yuri/Megumi Amusement Park Kidnapping Scooby-Doo Plot episode (probably got the episode name wrong, didn't check the wiki), felt like it was all telling one story. I sort of wish that "one story" had been about a regular cast member, but this was still a solid installment that rooked in (sorry) Wataru, Jirou, and Yuri to react to the Fangire's storyline. It wasn't an unpleasant watch!

Please remember 2 things:

• Acknowledging someone's flaws and not defending them (not Wataru's) ≠ hating that person or even the whole genre.
• Any good guys, whether they're hero or anti-hero, they should not feel entitled to receive only praises and no criticisms for his/her moral decisions, including concerning the bad guy, and/or that he/she can never possibly make a morally wrong decision.

And I'm not talking about monsters only, I'm talking about someone's actions as a whole. While monsters are mostly only be able to be dealt by killing them, I'm also talking someone like Nago, where when he deals with something bad, can be just excessive like to criminals in previous episode (not letting them get away, but don't use excessive force). There's also a 2-parter in Kiva not long before before that deals with monster as living being, someone is now harmless and no longer kill (Oomura), that he deserve to live normally by then, and his trigger (bad music) can be likely dealt with something other than killing. There are times where killing a monster is clearly in the wrong, like Kuroto killing Burgmon in Ex-Aid, because that monster didn't do anything wrong in the slightest.

I mean you too, if you complain about the use of CGI in KR fights (I can't stand failure CGI too, like an abundance of it in my country's TV airing, but good CGI might deserve appreciation), it's holding back other people expressing art. Same for forcing the show to not implement plot-focus or non-favored genre like horror (I mean if it's bad it can be criticized yeah, but prefering to not do it altogether for the risk of it being bad). Though otherwise thanks for defending... a̶l̶b̶e̶i̶t̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶c̶e̶s̶s̶a̶r̶i̶l̶y̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶k̶u̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶f̶f̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶g̶e̶n̶e̶r̶a̶l̶l̶y̶,̶ ̶I̶ ̶f̶o̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ ̶K̶R̶ ̶d̶u̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶m̶u̶l̶a̶i̶c̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶c̶e̶s̶s̶a̶r̶i̶l̶y̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶k̶u̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶e̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶a̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶a̶s̶p̶e̶c̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶I̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶p̶i̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶c̶e̶r̶t̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶K̶R̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶r̶e̶v̶i̶e̶w̶.̶

For Inoue show comparison, it seems that Wataru will be a better dad compared to someone like, Keitaro, who spoils the "child" beyond relief. Wataru has the strictness to tell Dai-chan to not touch the violins when he only causes damage, albeit Wataru does feel regret for being too hard. I guess Wataru's nobility seems to be able to inspire Shizuka here to do the same, who several times insisted Wataru to just call the police to let them take care of Dai-chan before (albeit Shizuka's the one to urge Wataru to save him). Shizuka's impression of (she's the one telling Wataru to leave) of Dai-chan, though she's right at hindsight (but for wrong reasons), is something that people commonly said to people like Wataru in real life (though ironically someone like Wataru refers to Dai-chan as strange here) as a form of (hostility) ostracization to them, i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t̶.̶

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...96/strange.png
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm.../strange_2.png

For Rook being a major villain, the ones that is named after a chess piece are, I'd expect for Rook to stay for long time (though several Fangires of the week stay long time between 1986 to 2008). For a major villain who seemingly had amnesia and turned innocent, this also reminds me of Reina Mamiya/Uca Worm on Kabuto. Though I got the vibes of Dai-chan just being two-faced in 2008, seen in him eating a woman who's kindly being concerned for him (ungrateful) when Dai-chan falls in front of door. Rook is a really big troublemaker for the cast, seen currently not in 1, but 2, as both Yuri and Jirou has an intense grudge to him (and further clarifying IXA not being able to be used for those seeking vengeance means bullshit as Jirou is just the same as Yuri, and Jirou has commited more atrocity). And for Rook's cruelty to civilians in 1986, I hope this can make people realize that it can be a cruel view to wish hell for people who are deemed "boring" or "uninteresting", either a fictional character. Even if they're "boring" or "uninteresting", they don't cause harm or disadvantage to others, they don't deserve to be like, suffer or killed, there may be something wrong in someone IMO if they can't tolerate someone being "boring" or "uninteresting" in your eye.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...778/bored1.png
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...022/bored2.png

I am totally okay with tiny toku children like Shizuka giving a wide berth to gigantic people with emotional or mental hardships! I don't think she's being cruel or anything, she's just being pragmatic. Biggie is an unknown quantity who is bigger than the two of those kids put together. It's totally sensible to not run down a hill and ask him what's up. Leave it for trained professionals. (Which was her overall advice! She's the brains of the outfit!)

And, like, she's mostly just saying to leave him alone, not, like, shun him. When he's drowning, she helps Wataru save him.

That its why I have problem with you. You too sensitive you get easily offended at people for not liking heroric characters. Thinking them as psychopaths. Geez its just a TV show.

Folks, let's keep it civil. It is okay to have different opinions, and it's awesome to share them, but let's not make it personal. An opinion isn't a person, and people deserve courtesy and respect. We all process art differently, and we're all here because we want to talk about Kamen Rider. Thanks in advance for your cooperation!

He seems to me he is attacking the fandom more than the art.

Maybe? I don't really take it personally when someone's making a generalization about a fandom. It's DreadBringer's opinion based on their experiences. As long as it's not a) disparaging anyone by name, and b) in the context of explaining their feelings towards a Kamen Rider episode, I'm content to let them explain their perspective.

And it's... like, that's the lens we all process art through, our personal experiences and biases and pet peeves and ships and whatever, all of it. If one person has concerns about a type of content, or sees it as indicative of larger storytelling flaws? Fine. Even if I don't agree, I'll live.

It's just another perspective. If you think they're talking about you, they probably aren't. It can be interesting just to see how someone else perceives something, though? Hopefully?

Episode 15 is another very exciting one for my shtick, because the show just got its second TETRA-FANG insert theme! None other than Individual-System, the theme for Kamen Rider Ixa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSMN-ZxlAu0

And I do specifically mean the theme for Ixa, as in not just Nago, hence why the first time it's playing is when Jirou is using the belt. That being said, while the lyrics mostly revolve around the broad goal of the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization to account for this, even making reference to it being a power passed down through multiple eras, there's a distinctly Nago tone to the sheer reverence given to Ixa, speaking him of as though he were this lone soldier, standing proudly as the only thing between the innocent masses and the sinful creatures seeking to extinguish their lives. It's kinda more apparent comparing it directly to Destiny's Play, which is this very personal song about Wataru's fears and desires, and then this one is just MONSTERS BAD ME GOOD. It's insisting Ixa is a hero in a way that's got the slightest hint of a creepy undertone to it (and while it's another thing I can't describe, I also feel the overall sound matches this idea) which of course means it's a great theme for Ixa. Now if only I could figure out why it's called "Individual-System"...

(This song is also a bit special to me because I distinctly remember seeing this exact YouTube video of Kouji Seto performing it live at the very first of the few concerts TETRA-FANG did, and how endearing it was watching him get extremely nervous and choked up trying to express his gratitude for being there with everyone. You can tell how genuine it is because his singing is noticeably worse than in the other songs that night, and it's honestly just really cute? Actually, come to think of it, maybe seeing this before the show itself is a huge part of why the whole "I'm going to sing!" ending of episode 12 left an impact on me?)

Anyway, yeah, this episode was another in a string of winners for me, and certainly one of the standout uses of the show's double time period plotting. It had me on the edge of my seat in a way that I did not at all expect from Kiva going in.

- It's a system of a bunch of guys that use it, but only one individual ever does at any one time; especially prevalent when you consider the two time periods shtick showing two users at the same time

- It's meant to be the spearhead of an organisation that works together alongside it, but Nago, Jiro, Otoya etc all go off on their own individual crusades for various reasons rather than working alongside the system

- I'd have to develop this line of thought further (and, well, I don't really care to for any Kiva character), but something something 'Individual System' is a perfect summation of Nago's inner contradictions


I dunno, just always made sense for the vibe of this rider

I actually agree completely (and thank you for the succinct explanation), it's just that for whatever reason, I've never been sure how much of the meaning you can read into it was specifically intended or something, I guess. Maybe it confuses me simply because it's an oxymoron? Might be pretty rude of me to assume that must've been accidental, in retrospect!

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 16 - "PLAYER: THE RULES OF CRUELTY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva16a.png

A little tired, a little punchy, let's see how this goes.

I thought this conclusion was okay? It definitely didn't go in the direction I was expecting, and there's an absolutely killer cliffhanger, but there're a few odds and ends that detracted from a relatively smooth experience.

Like, I honestly don't know if Rook got detonated at the end. He summons a bunch of spare Fangire souls, a CGI monstrosity appears so that IXA can drive his new toy to the fight (baffling to me that W.A.K.E.U.P. designed this weird-ass construction equipment to be their newest weapon in the war against decorative vampire monsters), the CGI monstrosity gets detonated. But, like, Rook isn't shown again. Was he commanding the CGI monstrosity, or inside of it? It's a minor thing, maybe, but I don't love getting to the end of a two-parter and not knowing if the homicidal monster was vanquished?

And, that was the surprising thing: they went all-in on Rook being a killer! Thought we'd see a little bit of Biggie being aware of Rook, and there being a sense of both identities having validity, but nope! Heavy, heavy nope! Rook murders the kindly restaurant owner, the daughter who had a crush on him, and a half-dozen random diners who will probably not be tipping. They even show the daughter shatter after being turned into an exsanguinated transparency! They are pulling zero punches! He's an unrepentant monster!

I don't know if I love that? It makes for a formidable villain that nearly every hero has a vendetta against, but... it feels needlessly cruel, to have such a swing between Cute Flirting and Murder Spree. (They even trot out the classic Inoue Tautology of "Biggie is Biggie”, making me think there's some innate decency to him. They used my fondness for that catchphrase against me!) It's a flattening of the tone, maybe, where it's not worth mourning Biggie because he was never really there to begin with? I don't know. It was a turn in the story I didn't see coming, which was nice, but it robbed the character of some extra angles that I would've preferred they followed through on.

I think the '86 stuff played a little better? I liked the Jirou/Otoya Vs Rook fight better, for sure. The choreography was more interesting, and there was a better attempt at strategy than Drive A Bigger Truck. They got beat, 'cause they always get beat in '86, but it's a more kinetic beating than we'd get at the end of the episode. Seeing the two rivals trade weaponry back and forth in a bid to outmatch a dude who has trumpets on his shoulders to announce his victory... very fun! And still appropriately gross and condescending, considering the men involved!

As you'd expect for a story where Jirou recruits Otoya to defeat Rook so that Yuri doesn't have to, it's patronizing and tacky. They knock her out and steal her purse to get the IXA Knuckle back from her, all in the name of protecting her from herself, which is ridiculously reprehensible. (And then they just leave her knocked out on a sidewalk with all her possessions stolen?! WHAT?!) They are up on the highest of horses this week, somehow managing to come off more delusional and self-involved than a returning Nago, which seems like the meanest thing I can say about those two.

(And, to be clear, I did still enjoy the Otoya/Jirou stuff. They have such great rival energy in their scenes that it's easy for me to overlook that they're treating Yuri like a stubborn child rather than a grown woman who is being kept in the dark. Like, that is all still happening, but the charisma of the actors and their weird dedication to finding notes of Not All IXA or whatever in some tough storylines... it really creates some space for me ignore the more troubling aspects of the story they're in -slash- men they are.)

Hey, Nago's back! And Megumi, sort of! (She's only in one scene, researching W.A.K.E.U.P. cold cases, and I'm not actually certain if the actor is as sick as the character's supposed to be? Or worn out, or something? I can't tell if this is a bit, or if it's covering for an actor that they just couldn't get for a few weeks.) Megumi is hilarious as always, which is something I hope we'll be seeing more of in the future. Nago is... sort of restrained? As always with Nago, he's the most humble (which is to say only 98% self-aggrandizing) when he's certain of his victory, so he's all smiles at Mal d'Amour this episode. He's thrilled for however he thinks the Ixcavator is going to help him defeat a bat-themed superhero (not... not seeing it, myself), so he's only mildly dismissive of Megumi's taunts. It's a cute scene.

It's something I would probably like to see more of. Megumi and Nago seem to be treated the most superfluously of the core hero cast, and it's weakening the '08 storylines, I think. It's been a while since we got a solid Megumi appearance, and Nago is in maybe half of every other episode. He's in, like, two short scenes here? It's not great. This show's gotta figure out a better way to balance its cast.

Anyway! This episode! It was okay. The '86 stuff was gross but engrossing (Rivals teaming up! Always!), and the '08 stuff was surprising but not as compelling. Incredibly excited for the next episode, though, as Wataru got swallowed by a Dragon Cathedral and he's being carried to the opening credits, I think! Very keen to see what happens next! Other than Wataru maybe waking up from a bed of rose petals!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva16b.png

Well it is the title of the episode rules of cruelty so that is why going for? But yeah it sucks they tried make Rook that he is has some good in him only turn him evil again after he got memory again. It like what the point?

Ha ha, fair! Working as intended!

But, yeah, there's definitely a sense of... futility? Inevitability? I guess you could take it as a tragedy, that Biggie was bound to be swallowed up by Rook's malevolence at some point in the story. It just didn't feel like the show was really interested in the complicated reality of the situation, so much as they were the SHOCKING TURN of the gentle giant massacring his friends.

I just realized Biggie is Die's way of calling Dai-chan. I was beginning to wonder why Die started mentioning Biggie Smalls outta the blue. :lolol

So, I want to talk about Mort Weisinger for a minute. Weisinger was an editor at DC comics back in the 1940s-60s, most famously known for holding an ironclad grip on the reins of Superman family. I bring him up because he held this belief that comic books' target audience was around for about four years before they grew out of the hobby and moved on. As such, it was really common during his editorship to see old stories get reused every few years under the assumption that nobody reading comics in 1956 would have been reading the books when the same story appeared in 1953.

This brings me to Gentlemen.

Wait, sorry.

This brings me to Jetman.

I think I talked about this show back in the Faiz thread, but 1991's Choujin Sentai Jetman is the show that put Toshiki Inoue on the map. It was long cited as the most beloved Super Sentai series in Japan, with particular praise going to its darker and edgier tone (which is ridiculous, as the real praise should go to Noodle Dimension, the greatest tokusatsu monster of all time). Like most Sentai series, Jetman had a core group of main villains who persisted through most of the show. This group was led by a man named Radiguet. I bring all of this up because one of the most iconic episodes of Jetman is the one where Radiguet is turned human and given amnesia as punishment for failing to destroy the Jetmen. During this period he meets a sick young woman and falls in love with her. At the end of the episode he gets his memory back and kills her without hesitation or regret. It's a shocking moment and one of the most memorably twisted actions by a Sentai villain.

It's also something that Inoue uses again here on Kiva, 17 years later. Probably just figured that no one who watched Jetman would still be watching these shows so many years later.

It's not a bad story concept - fantastic way to demonstrate how monstrous the villain is, in fact - but if you know Inoue's back catalog it definitely feels like he's essentially plagiarizing himself. It won't be the last time in Kiva.

On the whole, I do like these episodes, although its more for the past segments than the present ones. I get more interest out of watching Jirou teaming up with Otoya to team up against Rook while Yuri gets knocked unconscious repeatedly. the modern day stuff with Dai-chan gets old for me really fast. It leads to a big pay-off in the end, but it's something that feels like Inoue recycling old plots.

The modern story does properly introduce the Powered Ixer, though. Because nothing fits the "holy knight Kamen Rider" aesthetic like a barrel-throwing dinosaur crane.

Oh gosh, I hope not! Please, Die, if you remember anything from this post, let it be this: Tipping is generally discouraged in Japanese culture.

The point of the reveal of Dai-chan's true identity as Rook was probably to further show how Wataru has gone from trusting nobody but Shizuka to trusting everybody and teach a moral that a little skepticism can be helpful sometimes, continuing from Kengo getting deceived in the previous arc. It's like Takumi acts after he commits to being Faiz in Episode 10, he starts overcompensating for his inferiority complex which causes him to look like an idiot. Here it's Wataru thinking how awesome people and the world are now that he has a few better experiences, but he forgets that people and the world can also be terrible, which prevents him from heeding Shizuka's advice about being cautious of strangers. Sometimes character development has to go backwards before it can go forwards.

Anyway, I'd like to point out how ridiculous the minor chess motif is for the Fangires. There's more than 8 pawns but only 1 rook! What even? Maybe they should have gone with Shogi instead.

Based on the screencap, it seems to be a translation by whatever subs Die is using. Over-Time do this sometimes, like for Kei-chan (Kairi's nickname for Keiichirou) and Ansatsu-chan. But TV-Nihon just keep the original names.

IXcAvator on the other hand, why isn't that the original name?! :lol

Damn, I was going to make a joke about this but then you beat me to it! Oh well. However, I will point out that this episode is also one of many written by Inoue to be titled "[x] Dies!" and immediately follows the episode with the memorable elevator scene.

Yeah, I got subs that just call him Biggie the whole time. Sorry for any confusion!

Yeah, I guess I got lucky in that, since I didn't know the origination of this plot, it was able to surprise me a little. I didn't think things would work out great for everyone (as soon as Shizuka and Wataru were like Everything's Working Out Great, I immediately went Oh No), but I did not imagine it would be as clean of a break from Biggie to Rook as it was.

Plus... I don't know, I found all of the Gentle Giant stuff really charming? For all of the death and destruction the plot ends with, it's a nicely low-stakes middle section, with mistaken deliveries and forgotten miso soups.

I think it's that the actor for Rook does a good job in portraying Biggie's innocence as... it feels fleeting, even when there are a half-dozen scenes of him screwing something up in an adorable way. The intercutting with his past villainy and the general foreboding nature of This Is Going To Fall Apart makes those little segments... yeah, real charming. The 1986 stuff was better, for sure, but I did enjoy the 2008 stuff.

It's weird when they start adapting stuff straight out of Bram Stoker's Dracula, like with the Ixcavator, without giving it a toku twist, but at least it's grounded in theme and tone.

Maybe! I think his need to care for Biggie is a little more about his dad, and the way Wataru latches onto different male figures to fill a void in his development. They flip it around here, with him needing a son more than a father, but it's still him trying to configure a healthy family dynamic out of spare parts. Wataru is, like the Fangires, grabbing whatever he can from other people to complete his emotional development.

But, yeah, I can see it being an outgrowth of his recent (few!) positive experiences with people. Although, man, I don't know if Wataru should be feeling too open to people after Kengo vanished following a fight and the Rhino Fangire was such an object lesson in how manipulative people can be!

Nah, then that would be opening another whole can of worms given that Shogi has a rule where you can utilize captured pieces. :lolol

Nah, it's fine I just had to brought it up cause it reminded me of that one South Park episode. Plus I was listening to Biggie Smalls songs at the time. :lolol

Despite how dark it gets by the end (outside of Ixa's silly new ride at least), there's enough space for lighthearted antics in this episode that the show's go-to piece of music for that, appropriately titled Awkward Wataru, gets to play in no less than three separate scenes, so I figure this is as good a time as any to give it some attention. It may not be the coolest tune, but it's a real workhorse that you'll be hearing plenty when you watch Kiva.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnAQTP7GUcE

Anyway, yeah, as part of that group of people who haven't seen Jetman that Inoue was hoping to get with this one – this one got me pretty good, as I recall! It's pretty simple, you know? Amnesiac Rook's childlike innocence is super endearing and it feels bad having it ripped away so suddenly and completely. Even though, unlike Wataru, you can gather early from the '86 parts that it's all essentially one big lie, I think the episode does a great job making you want it to be true all the same.

Two quick things about Ixa this episode also made me want to bring up:

- So, we're already at the point where the show treats the Ixa Knuckle as if it were the entire belt, which is something I don't think has been mentioned in this thread yet? It's just a strange little thing since the show DOES make a point to show characters actually putting the belt on separately... except for when it doesn't at all. It's easy to poke fun at, but of course, for a Rider system being passed around between all these characters, it's kind of more simple, striking, and flexible for filmmaking purposes to center that all around just the Knuckle, so I get why they did it.

- And speaking of how many people use Ixa, I'm noticing just from the bits I'm catching skimming through the episodes that Okamoto does a pretty freakin' good job differentiating everyone's body language? Nago is a lot more restrained, Jirou is wild, Otoya is flamboyant... considering it's only the one suit too, unlike Den-O, it's honestly quite impressive that the performances don't start blending together more.

I feel like this sums up like 80% of Kiva. Alot of it feels like Inoue looked at his past works and decided he wanted to do a "Best Of" for himself and thus, Kiva was born.

Whether or not that works out is of course up to the specific viewer, but still, it's something I noticed.

It's a little funny you'd bring this up, because I honestly had a couple points where I forgot/misunderstood whether or not Wataru knew that Biggie was Rook. Right in the beginning, Rook runs off from the fight with Kiva, and the next scene is Wataru, Shizuka, and Biggie playing with a ball. It took a few seconds to realize that Wataru didn't just catch up to Biggie after the fight, that they all just reconnected somehow. I feel like there should've been a linking scene, where we see Biggie wake up after the fight and meet up with Wataru? It's a part of an overall sense that this one didn't dot the i's as much as I'd like.

I did scrunch my face a little bit in the Jirou/Otoya vs Rook fight, when Jirou just hands Otoya the IXA Knuckle and then Otoya henshins. Even my undiscerning eye was able to go Doesn't He Need A Driver at that omission. Neither dude consistently wears the belt in the '86 fight? Jirou does to start, for the first henshin, but once he's knocked out of it, the belt completely disappears. It's weird!

(My headcanon for Yuri stealing the Knuckle when she never had the belt is that she knew she wouldn't be able to henshin into IXA, she just wanted a bad-ass gun to use alongside her regular arsenal. She's no dummy!)

I don't think that Rook was detonated at the end (but I don't know much about Kiva so cmiiw), as he's one of the major villains in the series as Four Checkmate groups. I even think he summons the Fangire souls so Rook gets away scot-free, Kiva's busy fighting his monster while Rook is safe. Though it makes sense for Rook being a full on killer even to those who showed compassion to him before like the restaurant crew, Rook is an irredeemable villain, and he's not the only one on Kiva. Though still, his time as Dai-chan was never touched upon again, other than Rook stating that he lost his memories (so it's confirmed to Wataru that Rook isn't acting two-faced on him), and one of the Fangires who clarifies what happened to him, which is sleeping for 20 years, I'd still like to see what he thought about his time as Dai-chan, even if he shows nothing but disgust for it for acting like a civilized human being. Though still I probably think the "needlessly cruel" part here is a reality-check, just that there's a decent person who just happens to be a member of deadly species, there's also full-on depraved beings on any species (either a completely evil human "humans are the real monsters", or here for Rook), a reminder that there's a good reason why they're the bad guys.

I agree that Jirou/Otoya fight is better here, though there's maybe legitimate reason for it, Jirou/Otoya had been preparing to get rid of Rook, while Wataru had sudden reveal of Dai-chan being actually a rotten Rook Fangire and is thrown into a fight he never had a thought of (except the ringing violin). But finally, Jirou/Otoya realizes that they have mutual goal, and can work together temporarily to achieve that. Though the mutual goal here is an evil threat that is jeopardizing to both of them. I mean, even before you had "WHAT?!" on leaving her KOed on sidewalk, I had my pwn "WHAT?!" before that; how did Yuri, a woman fighter albeit is no match to the Fangires, get KOed easily by Otoya?! If Jirou's the one doing that, it may be plausible as he's a monster, Wolfen, but Otoya's another human fighter.

Surely not, there's a live stream of Nana Yanagisawa (Megumi's actress) recently, singing Kiva's songs, and she knew some english. Well, for "bat-theme superhero", Nago sees Kiva as villain, for a reason that would be spoiler-y to talk about now. A̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶B̶a̶t̶m̶a̶n̶,̶ ̶K̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶R̶y̶u̶k̶i̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶B̶a̶t̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶K̶R̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶.̶

Yeah, that was pretty much my read on it, eventually. It's just weird that we don't see Rook escape or anything. He's just all Arise My Minions and then we don't see him for the rest of the fight. Feels like the episode could've spared a few seconds to show him scampering off.

Sure, there's definitely that. Wataru was horrified at Rook's actions and conflicted about fighting someone with Biggie's face, so he was not nearly as motivated/prepared as the '86 team. That's true!

But, really, the whole point of the fight was to show off the Ixcavator and give Nago a confidence-boosting/insanity-supressing win. It was a fight that Kiva was only ever the prelude for, unlike the Jirou/Otoya focus of the '86 fight.

Well, I would say it's a mixture of surprise (she wasn't expecting Otoya to chop her neck) and the fact that Otoya is shown to be no slouch as a human fighter. He's held his own against weaker Fangires, and even gotten a few good shots in on Jirou. He's not a joke as a fighter.

That's what I would say. What Otoya would probably say was that his love for Yuri overcame her defenses, and that his touch was so powerful it rendered her unable to stand. But he's a creep, so let's stick with She Wasn't On Her Guard.

Oh, no, I just meant maybe she had the flu for a couple weeks or something. That or some slight on-set injury might've limited her work. It was probably just that the scripts didn't have room for her!

Not in the Chu Shogi variant though. ;)

I forgot to talk about this before, but I'd like for Wataru's shyness to be touched upon again here. Wataru's experience here can potentially trigger someone's fear for other people, where how someone who he takes care of, at first glance seems to be an adorable big man, but turns out to be an unrepentant monster. I can see Wataru's shyness surfacing back to him, becoming fearful to deal with others as in experiencing something similar to Rook here.

Sure Otoya is, but in my book, Otoya being no slouch for human fighter (which can be used for bad in his first appearence to fight off someone and take their woman away) means he's likely on par with Yuri, not above her. It should be a mid diff for him to deal with Yuri likely, not no diff.

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 17 - "LESSON: MY WAY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva17a.png

I got a real Hibiki vibe off of this one. Some of it's down to the visuals; it's almost insane to see Wataru out in nature, considering I've known people under house arrest that got outside more than he does. But a lot of it is the tone, which is agreeable and curious, and the themes, which are all about teachers and students.

One of the backbones for Hibiki was the struggle to best nurture the talents of children. It was something the show approached from the perspective of both the teacher (the Oni) and the student (all them cute kids). We get a sort of Kiva-y take on that this time. I say "Kiva-y” because, while there's plenty of time spent on trying to strike a balance between imparting wisdom and listening to feedback, there's still a Nago storyline where the world's most deranged do-gooder gets so fixated on his inability to secure a trophy that he relentlessly hounds a monster to the degree that it inadvertently homages one of my favorite Kids in the Hall sketches. It's... it's Hibiki-adjacent, but it is not Hibiki.

It's great, though, the whole episode. It's drawing from two frequent storytelling buckets for the 2008 stuff, Wataru Is Depressed and Wataru Needs A Mom. They're both pretty naturally applied, considering recent storylines. Wataru, too genre-savvy by half, wakes up (wake up, wake up) from after his rose petal skin treatment at a Dragon Cathedral day spa to ennui and betrayal, a sad realization that nearly every new person he's met for the last couple months have been Fangires. This would normally be the point where he'd confide in someone he trusts, but there's literally no one he can talk to about his Rider status. None of his friends or substitute parents know he's Kiva (I don't think Shizuka does?), and half of them want to murder Kiva, so he's got no one to help him through the Rider's dilemma of fighting to save happiness in a world that is giving him nothing but heartache. He's isolated and depressed, so he opts to get out of town.

I'll be honest: I think I like this show best when Wataru is depressed. I'm not even sure why. It just feels like stories borne out of his disappointment and uncertainty connect with the major themes of the series in a more visceral, impactful way. It leads to stories about familial obligation, and nurturing talent, and defining your self-worth, and all of the things Wataru struggles with on a daily basis. It's all-caps KIVA stories, you know? So an episode that swerves away from monsters and resurrections to let Wataru try to puzzle out why he's not engaged with violin-making (well, it is a day that ends in Y, maybe he didn't realize that), that's going to really feel like the show is focused on its thematic storytelling.

Wataru spending the rest of the episode as a student being coached by Megumi and Kurasawa, it's a lot of fun. It's that teacher's dilemma of trying to find a way to encourage Wataru's talent, but also being able to let Wataru discover his strengths for himself. It's just done through territorial pride and one-upmanship, because Inoue. Megumi losing her goddamn mind and nearly abducting Wataru? Yes, of course, huge fan. Her immediate feud with Kurasawa over who is the Best Mom is exactly the sort of stuff I've been missing while Megumi's been a little sidelined, and it's a view of teaching as being too much about the teacher that the 1986 story also hits on.

The 1986 story is, basically, amazing. It's this ridiculous story about Yuri needing to find a violin tutor for a kid (who I assume is Young Kurasawa, since Kurasawa was like Wait Violins to Wataru on the beach), enlisting Otoya with the promise that Yuri will go on a date with him if the kid passes her audition, cue adorable hijinks and some minor child endangerment. It's Otoya at his most frustrated and nearly feral, complete with a billiards duel against Jirou. It's not a really deep dramatic plot (the 2008 stuff feels more careful in the ways it's exploring Wataru's need for structure and direction), but it's fun to watch this kid and Otoya at each other's throats for an episode.

Just a top-to-bottom great episode, even the psychotic Nago subplot. That gives us a bonkers climax, as Kiva faces off against the same Fangire that Nago's been hunting, and Nago swipes the Garulu Saber on delivery to kick the asses of everyone else in the fight. It's a completely weird new ability of IXA's (Garulu Fake Whistlestle?) that changes the equation of the fight while it asks a major question about how W.A.K.E.U.P. knew to build something that could fake Kiva's abilities. Not sure it's going to get explained (Inoue show), but it definitely got my attention at the finale.

I had such a good time with this episode! I was only mildly distracted by the thematic significance of Wataru spending the episode in a shirt that said Stupid on it in big letters. Stupid Riders need the most attention, after all. I'm glad he's finally getting it!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva17b.png

This one felt weird to me. It's a bit hard to explain, but there was something about it that felt off, mostly in regards to the Otoya section. Otoya is behaving really weirdly, even by his own standards. As it turns out, this episode is weird: this two-parter is written by Shoji "Kabuto" Yonemura, making these the only two episodes of Kiva not written by Inoue.

They aren't bad, but the characters do tend to feel just a little bit off-base to me. I did enjoy the Wataru sections, though. Overall, I feel like Wataru is growing on me a lot more on the second time through the series. We'll see if he can maintain that.

Not only is it never explained, but - like Shoo Doran before it - the Fake Fuestles will never be used again.

So yeah, this two-parter was by a different writer and it kind of shows in how it’s slightly more committed to selling toys (namely, IXA’s fuestles).

Kurasawa’ actress was also in the Old Dopant two parter of W as a woman forcing her child into a career she doesn’t want, which in light of the girl in the 86 plot, seems karmic.

And now, here’s my main feature.

Seastar Fangire

True name: The Proposition Related to the Guillotine and the Nest Box (断頭台と巣箱に共通する命題 Dantōdai to Subako ni Kyōtsū suru Meidai)

Human identity: Sakichi Sakaguchi

Class: Aqua

Rank: Pawn

Actor: Shuhei Kii

Next time: Kiva gets his own equivalent of wing wolf mode/space jet mode/hydra mode/death cannon. (I have no idea how familiar you are with the Japanese transformers shows, hence the links).

One of the ways Kamen Rider Kiva leverages the supposed drawback of a large cast is that it sort of turns the show into It Takes A Village To Raise A Rider. It makes Wataru a character that needs connection, needs to be fixed, so badly that it motivates other characters. Wataru becomes both star and story-generator, and I think it keeps his shy, withdrawn Rider in a multi-generational ensemble melodrama from ever feeling overshadowed by more charismatic characters. Even when Megumi's killing me (the fact that Shizuka enlisted her aid by informing Megumi that Wataru had been acting strangely, all depressed and withdrawn, and Megumi's response was I Thought You Said He Was Acting Strangely, that destroyed me), the second she falls back in Wataru's orbit, her high-energy comedy turns into just another pair of hands that are trying to build a better Wataru.

They are really in an IXA Has The Best Toys section of this show, aren't they? I wonder if anyone on the production team wished they'd gone with IXA's whole thing as the main Rider.

Though probably there's Hibiki vibe with teacher and student, I'd not think that this reminds me of Hibiki (likely the visual yeah), as this episode is actually a contrast about how Hibiki is, where Hibiki has grounded cast and people interacting with each other in civil and amicable way, this one has over the top cast and full of squabbling between people. I know there's a part of teachers teaching someone, Hibiki's not only one where it had people teaching others, I'd say this reminds me more of scenes like... teachers teaching Tsurugi in Kabuto.

So it actually happened. Wataru being socially withdrawn, and it really makes sense that for all Wataru had to deal when trying to be sociable, he had to be given consequences that is undeserving to him despite him not doing anything wrong. It's not touched upon for Wataru's past, but dealing with what Wataru did here, like the person being close to you actually being depraved including turning on you, can be a trigger to turn someone shy and timid. The thematic explanation here, about Wataru's inner struggles, can probably help to explain deeper about character archetypes that is looked down upon like those who had ordinary flaws (non-toxic ones), and is hated instead due to being relatable, like how the timid characters are deemed by some to less likely to take decisive action and are more likely to be pulled along by the current of events.

The writer here is Yonemura. So this episode kind of reminds that Megumi, although had to grown to care better for Wataru when they're held captive by Spider Fangire, can still act tactless and spew condescending remarks or behaviors. For just being near Wataru, both Wataru and Kurasawa fall victim into Megumi's badmouths like Kurasawa being an old woman or Wataru being abducted, though Kurasawa responded with similar spat towards Megumi. I know that Wataru is a shut-in while those 2 woman are sporty, but I guess not even Wataru's fight as Kiva earns him enough physique to lift weights... (some characters after becoming Riders, can do things like, fending off monsters in human form). Other than that, Wataru finding archery... I'd like if the archery is related to developing his fighting skills as a Rider... but he already got all of the 4 main forms of Kiva. And the key of being actually the best mom is.... to drop the petty behavior those 2 has, neither are worthy.

Well yeah, this part's another tokusatsu bratty kid making headaches for the cast, although Otoya deserved that (but obviously not done for right reasons). The one that is endangered is not only the child, but Otoya himself for the child's prank involving dropping a violin on him (while Otoya's "The Worst", she didn't know her teacher yet). Though the girl also got punishment herself to be forced to clean the toilets (I hope if you find this part fun to watch, you won't chastise the ones giving punishments to the girl because it'll likely change the girl's behavior to become better). There's also Otoya trying to act cool while playing billiards with Jirou, but ends up getting his arm stuck in the pocket. He then proceeds to break his stick in half while trying to pull of a ridiculously tricky shot...which just happens to work.

I know the whole episode is bonkers, but I didn't think that the climax here would be labeled as bonkers too, it's merely a brutal beatdown that also has happened many times in Rider, especially those who aren't shy to show family-unfriendly violence. So IXA's power is revealed to be able to steal weapons from other Riders like Kiva with Garuru Fake. There's also another one of something that Nago is obsessive with, which is... buttons, where he wanted to capture them from a Fangire criminal to collect them as memento.

It definitely felt more reminiscent of Hibiki than anything on Kabuto. The Tsurugi stuff was always played as a joke about Tsurugi's cluelessness and pride. Here, it's a story about a kid who feels burned out and dissatisfied with his current path, and meets a passionate instructor in the mountains who gives him support and guidance. That sounds way more like Hibiki to me!

Yeah, I think Megumi Is Hot-Tempered is one of the core aspects of her character. She's someone who, in I think one of her first onscreen interactions with our heroes, got into an argument with actual children? The idea that she'd immediately get into an argument with a woman she just get met (and, it turns out, really admires!) sounds exactly right to me.

Oh, man, an ending where IXA is suddenly able to steal Garulu Saber from mid-air? And then use it to pummel both Kiva and a Fangire? That is bonkers! That is a story turn I am going to remember for a while!

Man, I have got to stop writing these at one o'clock in the morning. I'm an English teacher, I should be better than this.

I only know thirty words, do most of my writing bone-tired, and vaguely-to-deeply regret all of my posts. You are not alone!

Today, I present to everyone the perfect track for when you'll stop at nothing to rip a button off a dude's shirt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h5TzA-x1Yo

Crime-busting Nago is always so much fun, by the way. I love the idea that blowing up monsters just kinda isn't enough for him, you know?

Another thing that no doubt helps the visual resemblance to Hibiki is that 17/18 are the next Ishida episodes. Also explains why a simple change in focus caught your eye enough to be the screencaps for this one!

Hey, that's like twenty more words than I know! :p

One of my absolute favorite touches in an insane subplot from an episode I thoroughly enjoyed was that the criminal Nago was chasing just happened to also be a Fangire. This isn't Nago trying to stop a monster, he's just obsessed with some bank robber? Like, he's literally never been this dedicated to hunting the decorative vampire monsters that are, if memory serves, his actual job? The joke of Nago being inhumanly dedicated to just running down some random thug, and then it's like Oh Wait He's A Fangire... I love it so much.

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 18 - "QUARTET: LISTEN TO THE VOICE IN YOUR HEART”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva18a.png

The Hibiki vibes! They are deafening! This is a Hibiki story!

One of the big recurring things in Hibiki, especially in the second half, was the lesson that there is a difference between a job and a passion. It's basically what Akira's whole story ended up being about. You can be skilled at something, excel at something, but it isn't necessarily something that you'll find fulfillment doing. Your job is not your identity.

And so we get this story with multiple people finding fulfillment outside their jobs and societal expectations, sometimes to the detriment of their psyches. (Nago is Extra Strength Nago for this chapter.) It's a sweet episode, and still resolutely a Kiva episode, for all of its Hibiki outlines.

Like, Otoya teaches Kid Mami this very Hibiki message about following your heart -slash- keeping your beat in the most Kiva way possible: he plays her music so beautiful that she gives up on playing music. It's not about Otoya's skill, it's not even about his dedication to music. It's about his passion for music, one she doesn't share. She could train, and get better, but it still wouldn't make her capable of playing at the same level Otoya does. Worse, she'd be miserable doing it. There's a skill inside her that she'd be passionate about cultivating (Skeet shooting? Axe throwing?), she just needs to find it for herself.

Weirdly, the rewards of this aren't just shown in Adult Mami's commitment to archery, where she's the most energized and at peace when she's able to practice her craft. It's also in Nago's story, where his job at being IXA and hunting Fangires is no match for his passion: manhunting.

It's not... I don't know how happy we're supposed to be to see Nago laugh with a zeal that is equal parts contentment and psychosis? Like, he was 110% insane at the midpoint in this story, and his catharsis came at the expense of between zero and eight felonies, but he's completely happy when he gets that button. It's horrible, and maybe a point is being made here about the trauma of being too passionate for something, but it's sort of hard to see what that would be. Like, Nago lets the Fangire escape, because he's only concerned with getting his trophy. That's tied into the lesson Otoya is teaching, because IXA is Nago's job, but manhunting is his passion. It's just, Nago is the only one in the story who suffers for following his passion?

Or, shit, is he the only one? This whole story is about Wataru feeling like Kiva is some nightmare that is keeping him from his true passion of violin-making. (Although... I squinted a little bit at Wataru's declaration that he's only ever wanted to make violins. You quit to play bass! Like, a month ago! This is not some unquenchable thirst you have! You quit making violins more than you make violins!) It's only through the very Kiva message system of Things Otoya Taught Somebody that Wataru's able to realize that he shouldn't be Kiva if it's only bringing him pain. And then, typical for a superhero, his inaction causes injury, so he's stuck with the impossibility of dedicating himself to something he's grown to despise, or feeling guilty for the rest of his life for his abdication.

But then he realizes that he's only been focusing on the negative consequences of being Kiva. Sure, Wataru's role as Kiva has thrust him into a world of violence and pain, like Nago's insanity has for him. But it's also allowed him to protect people like Mami, this story's mommy (I see what they probably accidentally did there!), and that's something he is passionate about. He might view Kiva's violence as a burden, but he sincerely loves being able to help people. It's a complicated solution to his dilemma, and one that requires combining multiple truths and viewpoints.

And to symbolize that new multi-faceted worldview, we get Kiva's new Quaternity Form! Much like Agito's Trinity Form, it's Kiva wearing multiple form changes at once. I thought it was okay? Thematically, I love it. It's a toku representation of everything Wataru learned over this episode, and the three people who taught it to him. It's him wearing Nago's insanity, Mami's courage, and Otoya's wisdom. Visually... I don't love it as much! It's an okay suit, but the resulting fight is just one move set after another. It doesn't feel more clever, it just feels more powerful. I wish there'd been some added choreography to make it seem greater than the sum of its parts.

That's a minor quibble, though, considering how solid this episode was. Great cinematography (Wataru's depression, that midday sun over IXA's head during the beach fight), terrific gags (Otoya can't politely tolerate amateur musicians), and a dead-on story for Wataru's emotional development. I know it's a fill-in story, writer-wise, but this was about as definitive a Kiva story as I can recall. Really, really good couple of episodes.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva18b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kiva/kiva18c.png

The characters in this arc feel just a little bit, I don't know, heightened to me? At least Nago and Otoya do. I can kind of tell that another writer is in charge of these episodes and he seems to be compensating for not being Inoue by really doubling down on some of the characters' key traits (Nago hates criminals but loves buttons! Otoya's a deceptively irresponsible doofus!). I did like them, though. Wataru getting a bit more resolve is always nice and Otoya imparting valuable life lessons in the most unlikely way possible is fun (loved the bit with him increasingly slouching with each shot during the audition).

I also liked having a human character carry over between the two time zones. We don't get that as much as we probably could.

This is Kiva's awkwardly-named DoGaBaKi form and do you remember the Fake Fuestles from the last episode that never show up again? Guess what else never reappears, too?

There's actually a reason this time, though. We'll come back to this idea, but there were some problems with the Kiva suit. From what I've read, it was the add-on pieces from the alternate forms that really made the suit difficult to move in. I don't know if we've ever had specifics, but it's been widely reported that the suit actor almost died wearing the Kiva suit. I have no proof, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the extra bulky DoGaBaKi suit that was the specific problem.

I'd agree with Nago being written in an off way for this story (He's also considerably weaker for no apparent reason? Remember when he stopped an oncoming car by stepping on it?), but I thought Otoya was pretty spot-on. He's just as sleazy as always, and even when he helps out, it's mostly just to get laid. The exception, of course, is when the subject is music. The idea that Otoya would actually help this girl get better as a violinist and then understand that she shouldn't be a violinist? Yep, works for me.

Oh my god, I love this so much. Kiva's version of Trinity Form only showing up for one story is... YES. That is so perfect. I... this is a dream? Is this emotion joy? It can't be; it's far too pure.

As I mentioned last time, Kiva gets a new suit in the grand transformers tradition of “mess around with the toy until you make something new”. At least I’m 99 percent sure it is because there are no contemporary action figures of it and no sounds for it programmed into the DX belt. And there is an official reason why this was never used again in-verse (the power becomes overwhelming after 5 minutes).

That aside, I did end up with a lot of love for this episode’s message. But the next two parter blows it out of the water for me.

This is Kiva syndrome the introduction of a new form power or piece of equipment and after and episode or 2 never use it again no matter how useful it would be. so at this point Shuu Doran, PoweredIxa, the Boron Booster, the fake Fustles, 08 Ixa's save mode, and DoGaBaKi have all been introduced and tossed to the side for the sake of shilling a toy or gimmick. Reminding me once again that above all else this is nothing but a toy commercial and it starts to get worse the further into phase 2 you get.

And the only one I give any leeway to is DoGaBaKi form due to the real life reason it was only used once, the base Kiva suit and it's modified form changes are all misweighted and heavy to the point that the suit actor almost died during a stunt to the point that the final form's suit was designed with being lightweight and easy to do stunts in as the core idea.