To be fair, I was going to vaguely allude to the Archimedel in the room, but I couldn’t think of any good cryptic hints. If anything, you’ve saved me a job.

This episode left me asking two things: 1. Does being on a neighbourhood council or whatever give you free rein to violate people’s privacy? Because government ish position or no, this seems dubiously legal. And 2. Why are the main characters the only ones protesting this? There should be a crowd of extras picketing outside the dude’s house at least.

I think a lot of people have shitty neighbors, and suburban communities frequently have That One Person who's always letting you know what the HOA rules stipulate, so the non-Yummy parts are just an annoyance that you have to put up with in society. This has only been going on for a day or so, so I'd imagine most people don't view it as harassment yet. (Plus, the public-facing stuff is mostly Oh My Gosh I'm So Sorry To Ask This But It Would Be Great If You Could Maybe Move Out Ha Ha I'm So Sorry To Ask Bye, which is something that's hard to take super seriously. Ankh is right to blow this dude off! The rest of it is all behind the scenes.) If Archimedal keeps screaming at people in the streets or whatever, I imagine the police will get involved, which I'm sure they love.

The green eyes really sell it, they look great on the purple. Putotyra is better for sure! Weird how the Purple Medal-piloted Combos are identified by purple eyes though, as one of the non-purple parts of Putotyra.

Of course, there are people who'd ship anybody, so it totally applies to those two as well. I doubt Kuroto would see it that way though, considering how the whole Doctor Mighty XX thing resulted in him getting forced in to house arrest and community service, despite actually being willingly helpful for that part.

Makes sense. Decade was an entry point for a lot of people (at least judging from that thread), so I can see how they would feel nostalgic about the first 3 full-length shows that succeeded it. As one of those people, I have Double and Fourze in my top 10 Heisei, but I'll still acknowledge their flaws and listen to people's fair complaints, even about Faiz.

Fitting that Power To Tearer is my favorite OOO insert!

There's an intriguing parallel with how Eiji trusted his family and Ankh trusted King OOO and both of them were betrayed. While Eiji reacted by giving up on desire, Ankh went the other way of doubling down on desire, neither of them wanting to experience that suffering ever again. And yet their ambiguous and admittedly kind of toxic relationship is gradually giving them back the parts of themselves that they lost, which means they have something to lose, but also something they don't want to let go of.

I know right! After reading Die's opinions about Gotou, I realized that I have basically no opinions about Gotou, other than him being less entertaining than Date. Reminds me of Hikaru from Revice, for how much he just exists.

More Satonaka is awesome compensation for absent Date! Should've made her the new Birth instead!

This is a really nice way of thinking about it!

I feel lackadaisical indifference fits Satonaka more here than understated competence. No one looks down on Satonaka I guess, but she really is someone who only fights/works for getting paid. She fits more towards the negative assumptions about Date, albeit money isn't her main goal (but it's often the primary aim on why one works). Dunno how limited is her indifference, like if she'd be like Ankh to stand by and let innocents get massacred if she directly sees them but no pay. This does feel more impactful about Goto having to learn humility, than back then when Goto suddenly eats the birthday cakes to work in Kougami Foundation again, probably what makes Goto need to become Birth earlier is not only about his screentime but also room for his development here to deal with unreasonable teammates. Though still I always wonder about complaints of characters being sidelined like Satonaka here, that they still deserve to be praised highly similar to characters like Momotaros, or that they're inherently lower of value in quality for being sidelined.

Guess Shihou Harumi really knows your favorites to be both in here and Geats. It's understandable, but even Chiyoko can get mad and throw tantrums, despite being seemingly always unfazed by other people's hostility, such as Ankh and Maki. Chiyoko directed her anger towards something more justifiable, unlike Sanako in Ryuki, though still wondered what'd be her limits by this if she could tolerate a depraved bastard in Maki. Though the Shimoda couple is clearly villainous, with a stock goal to rule over others, taking over the neighbor, being tyrannical watcher that does whatever they want, the other one who purposely uses the Yummy for their own benefit after Kanbayashi.

It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy yeah, to have a fear of no one wanting you around, but act in a manner that makes one really not want you around, like being abrasive, or distancing yourself from others (the "rejecting people before getting rejected" philosophy). These are also what I can go through. Oh, there was a character that brought this up, Yasu, the criminal victim of the week in ep. 19-20, about how he frequently backstabs others because he can't trust people. Though dunno too if Ankh seems to have contempt for humanity that adds to his abrasiveness to them, like how he immediately assumes the worst about Date, and that he feels humans deserve their just desserts for being consumed by their desires.

Never talking about Kuroto or any of those villains as the actual characters themselves, generally, no one will see it that way, but more about the audience that'd always view any case about them being helpful and contributing to saving the day as being tsundere about said claims, where I want for the differences in why the good guy team cast (or just any team, like the Saber moral of organization =/= people) fight to be acknowledged.

Guess this is why I bring this up to you, in an OOO thread, albeit you claim you'd acknowledge the other two's flaws too (I'm only on the fence about Fourze regarding this). But dunno about acknowledging flaws and listening to fair complaints part, which I struggle with as well, that you must agree on said complaints without debating (perhaps like those liking less received shows by just acknowledging said show as flawed and that it's their guilty pleasure), and that if one explains or defends about a complaint if one feels they catch something that needs to be explained to said people, it means you're not listening and dismissing them.

And yeah, with what I talk about regarding nostalgia above, probably criticism about Goto would be met with more backlash or silencing, compared to something (even if they do earn the criticisms) like Hikaru from Revice you said there, or characters like Yua from Zero-One. Though ofc, doesn't mean that the ones who defend the popular show is always sheepish or the ones who criticize is always right (a view I hate too on the internet), just that this is perhaps an example of the double standard (I hate this regarding judgments) I brought up - still don't want for those that defend a popular show to be just dismissed as a sheep, as long as they'd give reasonable explanation while hearing out about the less liked shows. Otherwise, guess as another example, about what I talk in characters like Hiyori or Tsukuyomi being seen as wooden, it'd be similar to how you or Die view Goto.

I really wasn't paying attention to Satonaka until this episode, so I was very pleasantly surprised with how hilarious Satonaka is as a foil to Gotou! I can't believe how fast the show won me over with the Birth switch. I was loving Gotou as Birth within half an episode after like 20 episodes of dreading the very thing! I honestly think that, although I much prefer Date to Gotou, Satonaka/Gotou is an immensely more entertaining duo than Date/Gotou. I would watch a whole spinoff!

I'm also very glad that, although KR definitely has a bias against she/her (apparently other terms are forbidden/auto spam filtered?) riders, they're not afraid to have them in more wacky, comedic roles (for the most part). I know not everyone's a fan of her, but Akiko's antics were incredibly funny to me, even though she never got involved in the combat. OOO was mostly missing that frantic comedic role, but I'm glad that it's coming back and it's just as funny! Definitely makes me wish we saw more of her.

Which is okay! I don't know that a job HAS to be a calling or anything. She doesn't need to eat a ton of birthday cakes out of a deep desire to do so -- it's maybe more meaningful that she can live up to the impossible expectations of someone like Kougami just for a paycheck. A solid work ethic ain't nothing!

If it wasn't easier to get one actor back instead of two, I wonder if we'd've gotten a bunch of Gotou/Satonaka over the years instead of Date?

I imagine Chiyoko is meant to fill that Akiko role, judging by how quickly she starts throwing herself around Cous Coussier at the very mention of the boys leaving. The main problem is that -- as shown in this episode -- she's completely outside all of the Yummy/Medals stuff, so there's only so many ways to integrate her wackiness into a plot. Clearly they should've tried harder over the last 30-odd episodes, because she's awesome in 39.

Probably my favorite bit from this episode was the part where Eiji and Gotou had really worked up this idea in their heads that Date was using his remaining time on Earth to build up enough money to use on some grand philanthropic gesture and his response was "Nah, I just need a bunch of cash to pay for a black market bullet-ectomy." Peak Date moment.

It's a great joke (matched only by Date pretending to die in order to motivate Gotou so he can also get paid for that), but the thing that's sort of sweet is that, at the end, Date's sort of like Your Thing Is Cool, Too, and maybe is actually going to build a school now? Somehow, Eiji and Gotou's radically incorrect view of the situation made Date a better man?!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 40 - “CONTROL, A BIRTHDAY PARTY, AND A VANISHING ANKH”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo40a.png

The middle part of this episode, though.

Team OOO goes to the Evil Neighbor house, but it’s full of controlled cops. Eiji won’t risk harming innocents in pursuit of the Yummy, so Eiji and Ankh have to wait around outside until the Yummy comes out. But they can’t go back to Cous Coussier – controlled cops, remember – and they’ve got no idea when the Yummy will reappear since they don’t know what its food is, so they just… hang out. They’ve got nothing to do, nowhere to be, and it’s summertime.

It’s the best little section of TV any series could ask for, giving the show room to cash in all of the investment the audience has made over the last year to create something so beautiful and melancholy. It’s all grounded in Ankh’s desperate need for control (like in the title!), where he needs to always keep others at a distance through cruelty, or threats, or intimidation, but it’s all just him trying to be the one that decides who can be hurt, so he can make sure it isn't him. Ankh clearly cares about this dumb family of morons he’s collected, and like he says, he doesn’t give things back. He hates that Eiji and Hina know him well enough to see through him, and it’s the blaring subtext of the best scene in the best episode of this show. (Sorry, 39, you had a good run!) Ankh still wants to be seen as the ruthless Greeed that’d kill any of them if the mood struck, but everyone knows that isn’t true anymore. It’s been a year, and too much has changed.

The best shows have this moment, around this time. It’s this realization that The End Is Coming – not some global apocalypse engineered by a genocidal villain, but the natural consequence of time, and Toei’s production schedule along with it. Kamen Rider OOO is only a couple months away from ending, and the middle of this episode really lets you sit with it. Another show might’ve held this off until the penultimate episode (possibly with a game of catch), but this one really wants you to feel the turn in the narrative. We’re at a point so removed from the beginning as to be facing a completely different cast. All of the battles and victories have forged bonds that don’t need to be spoken about to be recognized, which makes it even more poignant when the show decides to highlight them like this. There’s value in processing our journeys, and understanding what we desire. Ankh cares, Hina cares, Eiji cares; you care.

(I don’t have a lot to say about it, but I really like how this episode gives Hina room to talk about why she’s letting the status quo proceed, but then her answer is basically just Vibes. It’s so smart of this show to just let Hina enjoy her pseudo-brother without trying to define it or excuse it. It’s nice to have her brother around in some form, even if that form is Ankh, and Ankh is letting her have this time with her brother, so maybe he’s not so bad after all.)

The rest of the episode is a typically brilliant collection of fun fights and large-scale plotting – the wacky couple, Lost Ankh’s shocking cliffhanger victory, Satonaka negotiating a better salary to work at Gotou’s pace – but it’s the middle, and how it breathes in 10 months of exceptional storytelling to breathe out 2 months of trying to hold onto a thing as it's disappearing, that really made this one perfect for me.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo40b.png

I definitely miss Date now that he's gone, but Satonaka stepping up into a more active role is a lot of fun and makes up for it as best as anything can. There's some legitimately good comedy from this and I don't just mean Gotou's silly new outfit.

There are Ultraman fans who can remember the cry of every kaiju from the show's history, even to the point fo recognizing when they get remixed for a new monster. My hearing isn't nearly that keen, but I have always remembered the sound effects associated with this Yummy. It's a goofy effect and I honestly can't decide if I love it or hate it, but it has stuck with me for almost 15 years now.

Fun fact: The ending card for 40 is the one time in the entire show where Eiji and Ankh don’t have the Hawk, Tiger and Hopper medals. No matter what other medals they gain and lose, they always have TaToBa.

It's almost hilarious how effortlessly Gotou gets eclipsed by anyone and everyone else. That Shocker two-parter was right!

It's definitely salt in the wound!

Man, the birthday party in this episode has to be one of my favorite scenes in the show, maybe the whole franchise. Also, it gave us Eiji happily hitting the monkey while Ankh scowls, which might be the greatest shot in the episode. I need a GIF of that!

It's really the best. I like any show that's willing to take such a bold left turn from the conventions of the genre, and I adore any show that uses that unexpected energy to expose the psychology of a major character in such a heartbreaking way.

Though Eiji's selfless tendencies would obviously prioritize civilians, this'd be something that goes in Ankh's favor as the cops being used as a human shield means Eiji'd delay his attack on the Yummy, which would be what Ankh wanted to get more Cell Medals. And Date has completed his goal, so there'd be no competition among the good guy cast for Ankh to get Cell Medals.

Guess like what you said before, Ankh is dealing with the consequences of being betrayed by the original OOO. Eiji is someone that deals with the PTSD of failing to save the little girl, which is why he becomes empty, has lack of interest to his previous hobbies, and is avoiding the triggers. Ankh as the other main protagonist is also dealing with PTSD symptoms, but in a different way, where he's always on edge, distrustful, and is avoidant in discussing his past. Ankh's reason of being afraid of getting close to Eiji is due to waiting for Eiji to betray him just like the King (of which, Eiji is the opposite of him lacking desire, to the King being desire incarnate, but now Eiji can be drunk with power like his declarations). Guess Ankh now actually caring is shown when he doesn't choke Hina despite Hina not fighting back this time, because even in the beginning of the show, Ankh still can't do a thing to both Eiji and Hina due to being dependent on the former, and the latter's strength, but there's a case too when one can't cause damage due to being too weak or outside factor, and not because of their own virtues.

Though this is more highlighted in this episode, I felt Hina has started to care about Ankh after seeing him not regenerate like other Greeed. It was a tease when she looked at him at the end of ep. 26, but afterwards, she's now concerned seeing him in painful condition and would try to aid him, like in the early part of ep. 29. Though yes, it can be perhaps about taking care of her older brother's body, which can apply too for Eiji at least in Ankh's eyes, that he's only putting up with him for Shingo, where as what he claims, he'd kick out Ankh if Hina wants to, due to his promise of saving Shingo, though Eiji considers both in hoping Hina doesn't change her mind and thinking about Lost Ankh hunting for him in doing so, likely this is what makes Ankh realize Eiji cares for Ankh as Ankh, Eiji cares about everyone.

Though Goto might get the results he wanted more, this does still show the power imbalance between the boss and sidekick to have Goto sacrifice anything with Satonaka absorbing him, like Ankh to Kougami that Ankh is forced to increase his Medals supply to 60%. It's ironic that Chiyoko is the one that throws hands against the security, despite Hina being able to do so more with her super strength, though maybe it's because she'd be too strong as in, potentially accidentally killing them. So at the end, turns out Tomoko (the wife) seems to be mind-controlled by the Yummy, rather than being actually evil herself, which perhaps done to deflect blame off her for her seemingly getting away scot-free at the end, without any of the citizens going after the Shimoda family.

I think it's more that Hina only really fights back out of a kind of terror, while Chiyoko will aggressively defend the things that matter to her. If some pushy cops come into her home and place of business to take away two people she cares for? Yeah, there's gonna be some international fists flying!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 41 - “SIBLINGS, A RESCUE, AND EIJI’S DEPARTURE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo41a.png

Of all the ways a show might follow up on a cliffhanger that featured the capture and possible extinguishment of the co-lead, I’m not sure that Wacky Training Montage Featuring The Exact Same Actor would’ve made even my top 50 guesses. But this is OOO: anything goes.

It’s the most bizarre pivot, and yet all this episode that’s full of the actor who plays Ankh does is reinforce how non-optional Ankh’s presence is. There’s the tactical aspect, sure – I love that the show treats Ankh’s ability to throw three Medals right on target every single time as the otherworldly skill it is; on the other hand, it’s kind of insane that Eiji has zero clue of what Medals to use in a fight on his own – but it’s more that Ankh was a friend who reached out for help, so Eiji is going to do whatever he has to in order to save Ankh. It’s not about depriving the Greeed of firepower or whatever, it’s the exact same thing he’s been doing for a year about Shingo – this guy needs help, and it’s within Eiji’s power to help him. The end.

But before that point, we get the incredibly fun problem of the Best Possible Outcome happening a single scene after a completely different Worst Possible Outcome happening. Hina and Eiji are terrified of losing Ankh, but here’s good ol’ smiling Shingo, bewigged brother, who reduces Hina to an overjoyed ONII-CHAN machine. (Jesus, I swear, if I gotta hear her say ONII-CHAN on repeat for one more goddamn scene…) It’s a great twist, creating a hugely positive moment in the aftermath of Ankh’s capture, because the show only briefly feints at the idea that this is a win that doesn’t need to be disturbed. Eiji never views Shingo’s survival as a zero-sum state with Ankh’s survival, and almost instantly leaves Hina and Shingo to their former/future domestic bliss in order to fight to save Ankh. This is a show that worked so hard to make Ankh’s existence inviolable, making him a part of the group in way that demands that Eiji reach back and save his friend. Much like last episode, Ankh deserves to be around because his friends care about him – it doesn’t need to be explained more than that.

Not an episode with a ton of room for anything else, and that’s maybe a good thing. Between an incredibly strange training montage with Shingo and the OOO/Birth assault on the Yummy at Kamen Rider Fields, everything else is just Eiji indulging in how rapidly his status quo has changed, and I’m very okay with that. (Also, I kind of think Eiji wasn’t eating because he’s become enough of a Greeed that he doesn’t require food anymore. Not good!) Everything in this one feels appropriately unbalanced and untenable, instead of the typical OOO format with a slightly altered cast. Way weirder of a continuation to last episode’s cliffhanger than I’d’ve expected, but also way more fun to watch.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo41b.png

I like that Shingo?s medal throwing results in some horribly mismatched and gaudy random combos. Aside from that, not much to say on this one.

I'm sure the Wiki appreciated his bizarre tactical choices, if nothing else.

This isn't even something that is built up through a whole series, despite that people including you would like to see it that way. For Eiji part that is, where the impact is on Ankh's side to now reach out to Eiji and trying to survive as well as entrusting something to the casts like the Taka medal to Hina. The first episode already had Eiji claiming that he'd help both Shingo and Ankh because they have connection with him, small connection would count for Eiji to reach out to someone. Eiji is an all-loving type. So I guess this part shows that Ankh is important in OOO's battles in throwing medals where Shingo doesn't do quite as good of a job, though he's not that bad due to already knowing some of his battles for Ankh possessing him like the Medal's elements.

This Eiji's decision, while well-meaning, can be something that ends up bad instead, the part of a hero isolating himself from everyone due to thinking that they'd just bring misery to them. A problem Shoma had during the early part of Gavv, but what he had solved in ep. 5. At least the virtuous and straight up heroic kind wouldn't be someone who turns into a jerk to others, even if it's just an act (of which, it's often used to justify jerks), though Eiji can make it hard for others with him being tight-lipped about his intentions too. The problem of Eiji going to save Ankh can be about how Ankh may try to possess Shingo again, after he's fully conscious this time.

Seems that Lost Ankh got more powerful by absorbing Ankh, or that Eiji has emotional or control issues using PuToTyra, as this'd be perhaps the first time that the final form loses in a fight. When PuToTyra loses control, it'd become another combo that has eyes in a similar color to the rest of the body like TaJaDor. If Eiji doesn't require food, then he also doesn't require to work anymore.

I mean, you don't think the show has spent 40+ delineating the bond between Eiji and Ankh?

Who's this Ankh guy? Is he related to Gotou in some way?

I don't believe that show has featured any of Gotou's family members. You're probably thinking of Anko, Date's best friend, who is also a red bean paste.

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 42 - “ICE, BECOMING A GREEED, AND THE BROKEN WINGS”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo42a.png

So, Eiji.

He’s a character that lacks a motivating impulse. He doesn’t want anything, or need anything, or hope to achieve something. He isn’t trying to be a king, or write a book, or make friends, or excel in a field. Where you can sort of see the shape of any other Rider’s future beyond his series, Eiji’s feels as blank as the world the Greeed might devour. He exists, and that’s sort of the extent of him.

That absence of desire not only makes him the right vessel for OOO, it also makes him a pretty compelling hero. Because his motivation is always someone else’s motivation – he’s a hand reaching out to you, which means you are the operative article; his action needs your existence, not the other way around. He fights for you, which is a stronger motivation than fighting for himself – selflessness versus selfishness. It means that whatever he’s up against, as long as you need him to fight, he’ll find the courage to continue. It’s transcendent. It’s beautiful, like this episode.

It’s also heartbreaking. And terrifying.

Because there will always be a hand reaching out for help. There always be someone crying out for OOO to save them. If Eiji exists to help others, what does that leave him in a world where people will always need help? With the power of OOO, there’s an increasing level to which Eiji can help people – crowds of innocents, rather than a single crying child – but his Greeed-like hunger is that he can’t stop himself from destroying his future to save others’ present. Eiji will never be able to stop himself from protecting people from monsters, even if that means he becomes a monster himself.

So, Hina.

Hina’s job, again, is to be the person in Eiji’s life who doesn’t innately view Eiji’s sacrifice as noble or brave, but as regrettable. Her introduction to this series is seeing her brother nearly killed because of the Greeed while trying to protect others, and she understands the danger that poses. Eiji fighting monsters for others, endlessly, at the cost of his connection the world, is something she’ll never view as a fair trade. She’ll always fight against that concept.

She’s the one who fights for Eiji.

It’s recontextualizing that image of a hand reaching out, into hands reaching for each other. Eiji fights for Hina, and Hina fights for Eiji. Eiji is pulled back from the brink while he’s lifting up others. It’s the concept of desire as a reciprocal machine, adding life and vibrancy to a world, rather than deducting it through hunger. It’s about protecting everyone, even those who’d protect us. Heroism can as big as saving the world, and as small as keeping one person safe. Everything’s heroic.

Anything goes.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo42b.png

Well Eiji has a tried and true method for perma-killing Greeed now. Thankfully, Ankh wasn’t in control of his body at the time.

Two things have always really stuck with me from this episode.

One is Eiji remarking on how flavorless food is to him now, which I like both because the comparison to chewed up gum is simple but extremely effective (imagine *every* meal you ever had feeling like that), and because of how that's then used to make both Eiji and the audience realize the tragic significance of Ankh's otherwise mostly quirky popsicle addiction.

The other is how clever I think it was to have Eiji's big entrance into that crowd use the Lion head's established power to actively frame OOO as some holy light arriving to save us mere mortals, because I think that's pretty thought-provoking imagery in the whole context of Hina saying Eiji isn't a god and all these random people actively calling out to be saved in a way that hasn't been typical for this show. I mean, it's OOO, so this isn't too surprising, but I feel like there's kind of a lot of layers going on there all at once.

Yeah, but Eiji's (and the other similar noble characters like him) someone who doesn't need for you to build a bond for a long time to get him to care for you. He cares about everyone to a self-destructive degree. As I said there too, in ep. 1-2 Eiji already resolved to help Ankh and Shingo for having a tiny bit of connection to him against the Yummy. Though there I pointed out the bond part in Ankh's side to beg for Eiji, guess about him finally reciprocating Eiji.

Which is caused by the PTSD of his suffering through failing to save the little girl he befriended back then. Eiji struggles through his flashbacks, memories, fears, and anxiety. Despite being outwardly happy-go-lucky and only thinking about his underpants, he has a depression that makes him lack interest in his previous hobbies, making him the empty person that he is to never want, need, or hope for anything, while also being triggered by events similar to his failure, like bomb explosions, or when he doesn't take action to save others, which remind him of his powerlessness to fail to save said little girl. Otherwise, it feels like Eiji has less anger and hatred towards Maki here compared to when Maki lets his fellow scientist got killed as a test subject for the Yummy that had Eiji punching a wall.

The irony that, regarding how Hina insists that Eiji's not a god, as Shingo points out to her, even the Izumi family wants something that can only be achieved by Eiji, like Hina wanting to save Ankh, and thus, OOO fighting Lost Ankh is what they truly want, despite them being in denial about it; asking Eiji to do something, then claim to not want Eiji to fight. In a way, even Hina and Shingo have their own prayers towards Eiji that were fulfilled in this episode, not unlike those civilians who called out for OOO to save them. Ironically, Eiji does fulfill a god-like role for others including the Izumis, where he takes everyone's selfish interests, suppressing his own wishes, as in those are prayers, to do them favors, no matter what he wants. The saved Ankh, with full body, still takes the form of Ryosuke Miura rather than the Lost Ankh body with current Ankh's personality, unlike Den-O which keeps the monstrous form of the Imagins joining Ryotaro's side.

It's indeed common for the KR supporting cast to be those who disagree with the primary Rider or similar type of characters' self-sacrificing tendencies to a destructive degree; not only Hina here, but also Date previously, and also for some other series, Sakurako in Kuuga, Mai in Gaim, Daiji in Revice, etc. Kobayashi's previous series Den-O was the one that actually featured the main protagonist disagreeing with self-sacrificing, in Ryotaro. The main Rider for most of the time will never listen to those of which, the supporting casts are forced to do their job to keep the main Rider stable. Of which while those dedications are heartwarming, dunno if this'd rather paint the supporting cast as in the wrong to try to stop the main Rider doing favor to others, albeit here Shingo points out that there's Goto to take care of the threats, though Shingo doesn't seem to know the power levels of the fights well, like how Lost Ankh can only be beaten by PuToTyra, in a close fight.

It's certainly important, with 6 episodes left to go!

They do a great job of deifying OOO in the back half of this episode, giving Eiji an appropriately messianic suffering and dedication to delivering people from torment, which works wonders at centering Hina's declaration that this is the wrong way to treat Eiji. Smart storytelling!

That character's look is too iconic! There was no way they'd make Ankh a suit monster or a floating hand. Ankh knows that that face pays the bills!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 43 - “A VULTURE, A CONFRONTATION, AND ANKH’S RETURN”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo43a.png

Ha ha ha, of course. Of course this is what happens next!

It’s very fun, after a string of episodes that both confirm Ankh’s defining tragedy – his fear of abandonment – and illustrate the lengths to which Hina, Eiji, and even Shingo (his goddamn hostage) will go to save him, to have Ankh immediately remind everyone that he is an 800-year-old desire monster that is biologically motivated to fulfill his own needs at the cost of literally everyone else. We are barely half a scene removed from his triumphant return before he hijacks a now-conscious Shingo, tells his friends that he couldn’t care less about how cruel it is because it’s what he needs, steals his remaining Medals from Eiji, and then runs off to do a straight-up Q1 Yummy rampage scheme to revive Uva. Eiji and Hina have replaced Lost Ankh with regular Ankh, and it turns out to be a lateral move at best.

With Ankh on the run and Shingo in danger, we’re mostly left with how both of those things eat away at Eiji and Hina’s relationship. Amidst larger plots involving the Greeed, the best part of this episode for me was how Hina and Eiji try to navigate this new, horrible status quo (which is hilariously similar in most regards to their previous year-long status quo, but with everything turned up to This Sucks) and their complicity with both its outcome and what might happen next.

Like, we’re back to Hina Wants Shingo Saved, and that super sucks for Eiji, because it really means he has to save Shingo in order for Hina to be happy. It means he has to continue to fight, and that’s accelerating his transformation into being a Greeed. Additionally, he’s now powerful enough to challenge 6-Core Ankh, and the Purple Medals give him the ability to permanently end Ankh’s existence, to keep Shingo safe for good. (I really like how the Purple Medals’ established power as Anti-Desire allow them to destroy Core Medals, the embodiment of desire. Smart plotting!) This is exactly what Hina was afraid of last time, and now she’s doing it all over again to Eiji. Her desire to protect Shingo is forcing Eiji to push himself into danger and contemplate destroying his friend.

The incredibly clever thing this episode does is postulate Acceptance as Desire’s antidote. It’s not about eliminating desire – Hina very much wants Shingo safe from Greeed possession, and just generally not a meat puppet – but more about how we temper that emotion with an ability to accept the reality and limitations of the present. Hina can try to solve this problem, and she probably will with Eiji’s help, but endlessly focusing on it as an absence in her life just makes it worse for everyone around her, without really solving the problem to begin with. Taking a breath, supporting a friend, and keeping perspective are the best ways to keep our desires from overwhelming us.

As with most OOO episodes lately, I really enjoyed how the soft center of character drama and self-examination dwelled within this high-stakes, fast-paced installment of tokusatsu action. The main series plot continues to excite with its twists and upheavals, while the show never loses sight of the impact of each twist on the characters we care about. Killer stuff!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo43b.png

Eiji is at his angriest here after the confrontation with Maki back in ep. 10, shown in the overwhelming power the Purple Medals he unleashed to Ankh, of which turns out it's directed against Ankh betraying them and harming Shingo, not against Lost Ankh seemingly absorbing Ankh before. Ankh still has not mellowed out yet, despite the tease of him reciprocating his friends' gestures to him. He'd still commit crimes like harming Shingo for him to possess, and actually spawn a Yummy like he said back then, clearly harming innocents, as he can do it now. The show doesn't absolve him too, where Eiji outright states that his desire is no excuse for his cruelty. He also expresses contempt to the main cast like Eiji's lectures, and he does this because he no longer needs Eiji, he can now function like the other Greeeds, after becoming full again due to Lost Ankh's defeat. Shingo just seems to be simply a nice guy that cares about others, as an ideal cop, of which it was said/teased by Yasu, the criminal who looks up to him in ep. 19-20, where here he's shown to not really hold it against Ankh for his possession before and now.

Maki's goals to eliminate everything in the world while he himself still lives to enjoy the remains, reminds me of Glion's goal in Gotchard. Both of them aim to preserve the world's current beauty and not let any following events ruin them, but Maki does that in ending everything before they got further ruined like Hitomi in his eyes, while Glion wants that by turning everything into gold so nothing will move forward and ruin it. The Purple Medals is the biggest threat, and it's not only about Eiji going berserk, but also about Maki, who IS the main antagonist of the show and is the most depraved villain of them all, so it's indeed about the biggest natural enemy to the world. Guess at least Satonaka seems to be at least more concerned about Eiji's situation to show more reaction to it.

I don't know if Hina is really culpable as she feels, where previously she tried to stop Eiji and begging for people to not pray to him. It's Shingo who stopped her and get her to realize what she truly wants. Otherwise, the show having Hina do this feel like the show indeed blames others for having a selfish desires that forces Eiji to do favors for them, or have them being able to be used to spawn Yummies. You said here it's not about eliminating desire, but it likely wouldn't be seen this way by some people, due to how Eiji, the role model and the example of the series (most main Riders are) is someone without desire and which is why he's so kind, he has nothing he wants for himself to prevent himself doing favor for others, thus it's others that need to become more like Eiji, and here, it's Hina who's shown to change to focus on supporting Eiji, without Eiji needing to do anything. Eiji obviously will always said that others' desires aren't bad, but it'd be likely viewed as just him being overly positive and seeing the best in everyone.

Have to admit, when I first watched this episode, I did not see the Yummy victim being Uva-possessed. I just thought he was some bitter old hermit.

I mean, I think the show has had a fairly ambivalent take on how much Eiji's lack of desire should make him a role model? Eiji's a guy who spends nearly the entire show with his life on pause out of fear of his own desires, and multiple characters have pointed out that it leads him to be too reckless with his own life. (It's sort of what Hina's been talking about for a while now!) Eiji's an example of something in the series, but I don't know that it's an uncritical How To Live Your Life.

The green eye flashes were a giveaway for me. We only see those eye flashes on Greeed (specifically Maki and Eiji lately), and Uva's been in the wind for too long, so it just added up. Fun way to get him back in the mix!

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 44 - “AN ASSEMBLY, A COMPLETE REVIVAL, AND YOUR DESIRE”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo44a.png

It’s to this show’s credit – and arguably one of the major reasons it’s so well-regarded – that Ankh’s endgame villainy feels both logical and inevitable.

If watch enough Kamen Rider series (“enough” meaning “a sufficiently large sample size”; there’s no such thing as enough Kamen Rider) you’re likely familiar with the late-stage turn of a major character to the evil side of things. It’s as much a staple as quarterly power-ups and underutilized female characters. Once a year, someone Goes Bad: could be a slow descent into self-negation and madness; could be a split-second breaking point because of a tragedy; could be a horrible misunderstanding; could be a potent metaphor for how our childish dreams of charity and generosity curdle with age into a desperate desire to protect what’s closest to us, due to a society that constantly reinforces selfishness as a virtue in order to pit the masses against each other. (You’re never going to get me to dislike Keiwa’s arc! NEVER!) There’re about 25 variations on it, to an equal variety of narrative quality. I don’t know that it’s ever felt as ridiculously perfect as this, though.

If you don’t buy Ankh legitimately turning on Eiji and Hina to rejoin the Greeed, I don’t know if this show even works. Beyond feeling like the inevitable result of everything we’ve seen from Ankh over the course of the series, the specific events of the last three episodes make Ankh’s motivation crystal clear. He’s said from Day 1 that he wanted the safety of a physical body, and after being briefly absorbed by Lost Ankh, which was his nightmare, he reformed in a world where Eiji can now obliterate the Greeed permanently. For a character motivated entirely by a fear of being harmed by the people closest to him, the idea that Eiji can end his life is going to be the final straw. He’s been turning on Eiji since the start, and the last two episodes are just the last nail in the coffin.

Ankh as an endgame villain is the best thing this show has going for it, and that’s because we’ve watched him change and grow enough to see that there’s more to him, even if he won’t let himself see it. Eiji and Hina know where he came from, what he’s capable of, and they still want to redeem him. The power of that is what makes Ankh’s defection to the Greeed so compelling – we know that Ankh can be more than this, but he won’t acknowledge it.

On the other hand…

It is incredibly difficult to take the rest of the Greeed seriously at this point, and I’m glad that the show barely asks us to. The certainty with which they reflexively betray one another is their most prominent attribute, but after 44 episodes it’s sort of becoming their only attribute. Ankh can barely finish pitching them on collaborating for a single goddamn fight before Kazari loses his shit and attacks him. While it makes for the occasional fun action sequence, the increasingly dull repetition of the Greeed undercutting one another starts to strain credulity; how in the world did they last a single afternoon 800 years ago, let alone potentially weeks or even years? I literally could not have cared less about Kazari tricking Gamel into attacking Ankh by telling him Ankh was going to run off with Mezool, and I only cared slightly more when Kazari got Dino Murdered twice over. There’s not much of Kazari to have ever found compelling on his own to me – no real nobility, and nothing approaching Ankh’s tortured backstory. Kazari was just a scheming jerk, and eventually he went up against a force too powerful to scheme against. There’s a hilarious irony to his deathbed assertion that he nearly Had It All, since, like, had what, exactly? What did Kazari ever do or want or almost get? He was the Tricky One, and then he ran out of tricks. That’s it.

But Ankh! Ankh’s got some fun juice to villainy, and this show’s the better for it.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/ooo44b.png

The one with a gratuitous flashback to the creation of the Core Medals, which leaves me with one question: If they were created by a European monarch, why are the announcements in Japanese and English, rather than, I don’t know, German and French?

Also, the creatives finally get to bust out that Dino Greeed suit that’s been lying around since the production of Core. And it’s a pretty good suit all things considered.

Because the Core Medals were created by alchemists, and Gotchard clearly established that the Alchemys Union is based in Japan. Continuity!

For starters, while we both disagree with prioritizing self-destructive and sacrificial ways for heroism and to save the day, I see many of the audience encouraging it, putting anyone who risks their lives and/or self-sacrificing themselves on pedestal, and viewing them as pure saints who are supposed to be an example of all of them, compared to the selfish way one lives their life to not have regard for others, regardless of what type of person they were before. I often see these type (including in Tokunation other discussion in other threads) dismissing good/heroic deeds if the ones who do it don't suffer/sacrifice in the process, thinking that they're only choosing to be good when it's convenient or such, they often only judge characters/person based on what they'd do in extreme situations.

About the ones that are considered perfect, honestly it's more about if the character was never really good in the first place. The characters just wait for their opportunity to actually commit villainy and get what they want. They don't really change, though perhaps that's why it feels more logical, but I think the ones that are actually good (I mean, similar to Eiji or Date type of righteous person) go bad can't be treated similarly as this. For another 'perfect' stuff, I think Micchy from Gaim is another case of someone who's already somewhat bad since beginning, of which it's may be overlooked due to him acting happy-go-lucky, but he's already cold towards his fellow school students, and is manipulative to throw his Kureshima family name, and stealing Takatora's Lockseed in 1st arc. He only cares about his friends (which made him on protagonist side that time), or to be exact, the people who please him, where as early as ep. 12, he already advocated for civilians (not his friends) to be slaughtered. Kaito is more obvious as an outwardly asshole, but indeed he didn't change as well that he always views the weak as deserving to be purged, not caring a bit about them or even siccing Inves on them, and at the end the whole humanity is his next target.

Where for above, Ankh is, well, I'm the one who has been saying it repeatedly, he's the token evil teammate of the main cast, where he only wants something for himself, and even back then on Eiji's side, he already had no qualms about harming innocents or murdering them, such as Hina, to achieve that. Ankh was mostly just limited that he's dependent on Eiji, can't create Yummy, of which he already claimed that he would if he could, and that Hina's super strength prevents Ankh from causing further damage. You claimed that Ankh only sent out empty threats to Hina back then, but, well, dunno if this should prove that wrong. He already said that his power boost makes him no longer need Eiji anymore, holding his own against Kazari despite his human body. If this part of Ankh is acknowledged as a villainy (I thought it's about him spawning a Yummy himself like the other Greeeds), what'd make Lost Ankh wasn't? Felt he acted on his own for his later scenes.

I still feel that though Hina still feels some pity for Ankh, she never really knew or understood what Ankh really wants yet for now. What he wants is survival, a complete resurrection of his body, of which for now, he still only has an arm due to his Cores being destroyed, and that, to solve his villainy problem, which'd lead to steps of redeeming him, said missing Core part should be addressed. Not addressing what said villain personally wants won't work towards redeeming them.

What I think was just that, Kazari seems to get a second chance from the fellow Greeeds, even from the paranoid Ankh and Mezool, and ofc, he still blows it. It'd show that he has burned bridges with everyone and the fellow Greeeds won't miss him after his demise. Kazari is just the OOO's take on Tojo/Kamen Rider Tiger from Kobayashi's previous series Ryuki, a feline-based fighter who can't help to backstab his allies. His death also has Tojo's vibes, wandering the city in a daze. I also expected that, making an alliance with Maki wouldn't end up well for anyone, Maki ofc has no qualms about turning on those who has been useless to him. Otherwise, as OOO gets his final form, the show lets the Greeed obtain a full revival, in Kazari getting 9 of his Core Medals, now getting a prehensile hair power, and can even beat up PuToTyra, albeit perhaps Eiji was already tired.

As always, these hypothetical people sound miserable. I'm grateful I have had completely different experiences with the fandom!

KAMEN RIDER OOO ALL-STARS - “THE 21 STARS AND CORE MEDALS”, PART 1

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/21stars1a.png

Once again, I’m binge watching a thing that you’re meant to consume in small portions over days, if not weeks. But we don’t have that kind of time! TWO NIGHTS! DOZENS OF VIDEOS! LET’S GOOO!

LET’S PLAY WITH EIJI-ONIISAN
Not getting off to a great start! It’s a POV game thing where Eiji keeps cheating by using different OOO forms. The camerawork due to the POV aspect really hurts this one, as it’s sort of nauseating. Thumbs down!

DO YOU LIKE ANKH’S COSPLAY
Not really! It’s one of those sketches that really relies on an understanding of regional accents, so this foreigner sort of bounced off of it. The costume changes were… okay?

HINA AND THE VIRTUAL ZOO
I just… I am not crazy about how romantic this date is between Hina and her brother! I know that she’s technically pretending that Ankh is her brother, but that sort of makes it even worse? There is more chemistry and tension between Hina and Camera Ankh/Shingo than in an upcoming actual date sketch. No thank you!

BIRTHS, STARTING TODAY I’M THE SHOP OWNER!
I genuinely can’t believe this sketch has continuity with the Den-OOO Net Movies. That is so absurd and self-referential that anything afterwards is gilding the lily, as far as I’m concerned. A+++, plus it’s always great to see Date.

GOTOU-CHAN AND A VIRTUAL DATE
He’s just so stiff and charmless, but in almost adorable way? Instantly a terrible date, as expected, but good for him for realizing that being a superhero is more fun than hearing him talk about his character arc and heroic motivation. Shut up, dude! Just Henshin already!

SATONAKA THE STRONGEST
Canon to me now. Satonaka should absolutely confiscate the Birth Driver and make the two boys her supporters. This Net Movie alone validates the entire enterprise.

UVA’S WORRIES. LET’S MAKE HIM MORE APPEALING
A dull advice sketch that ends in a callback to the actor’s gag at some then-recent live event. It’s, like, one joke, and that joke is just goofy wordplay. You are still a boring Greeed, Uva!

KAZARI DOESN’T LIKE THIS JOB?
I would also insult Uva, chastise Date and Gamel, sell off Eiji and Ankh, and flirt with Satonaka, so I take back every negative thing I said about Kazari yesterday. He’s the Greeed we can believe in!

GAMEL’S WORRIES. LOVE PLAN
Mostly just fun to see Gamel’s actor stretch a bit, you know? The joy of these Net Movies is that they can do blatantly non-canonical stuff, so yeah, gimme Suave Gamel or whatever.

MEZOOL’S END
Thank you, Net Movies, for not doing this Horny Mezool sketch with the teenager who plays her in human form. Horrifying to contemplate! The version with the rubber monster suit sexually assaulting the sociopathic scientist is maybe the more appealing version of this sketch!

CHIYOKO’S WORRIES. PROBLEM EMPLOYEES
Ehh. They definitely never knew where to go with this one, but it’s cute to have it end in a little sing-along.

MAKI AND VIRTUAL KIYO-CHAN
It’s just the standard gag of Date being obsessed with Maki’s doll rituals, but now shot from the doll’s perspective. That’s okay, though? I will never get tired of Maki’s escalation from stone-faced dissuasion to shrieking refusal, while Date grins like a maniac. The Odd Couple energy these two had could’ve powered a dozen full-on V-Cins!

And that’s it for tonight! Second half tomorrow night!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/ooo/21stars1b.png

I’ll just mention that here is a female Birth in the S.I.C stories, but it’s Rinko from Wizard. No, I don’t know why.

Also, since the cheerful henchwomen get more airtime here and in the trailer than the actual movie, I’d do the usual feature pointing out what else the actress has been in, but painfully, that hadn’t happened yet at the time of the movie’s release.