I haven't watched Blade but man I love the suits in that show, and the monster designs.

It's just, this is all sort-of my job? Like, digging into why I think something works (or doesn't work) and trying to explain that to people, that's basically what selling books to people is all about?

If someone comes in and says they liked a particular Batman story, I can always just sell them another Batman story. But, eventually, that's going to wear thin. That person's going to want something beyond Batman stories. (NOTE: Not all people! Some of them legitimately just want Batman stories forever!) So what I need to do is figure out what inside that Batman story that they were responding to. Was it the art, the writing, the tone, the duration, the twists, the themes... what about that story resonated with that person, and then what other stories have those same elements?

The other big part of the job is recommendations, and that's trying to find hidden gems that people might overlook. So that's just reading something, figuring out if it's something I like, and then trying to convey what about it that I liked to someone else. It's never "here's what happened in the story", but what about the story is worth experiencing, or what someone might like about it.

All of this, watching something and trying to understand it, trying to figure out what it's trying to say, trying to communicate that to other people, that's just how my brain works all the time now.

He took the fourth-longest to die, so he's got some positive traits.

Noted!

Wow, I really love reading analysis of things and frankly your experience and skill with it shows even in just skimming your threads. It's just really nice to see you dive into all aspects of the media, catching things other might not.

Thanks! It's been very fun being able to discuss these shows with other fans!

Just never ever ever expect me to be able to talk about music in a show, or why a particular song works. It's my one* weakness!

(*: so many more than one)

Agreed. I enjoyed watching along so much that I'm planning to keep up with that as Die goes through the rest of the OG Heisei era.*

*Excluding certain episodes of Hibiki.**

**Assuming Die doesn't break with tradition and actually becomes the first person to listen to me when I say not to watch past 29.

Yeah, what he said, is overall commonly what you'd hear from regular KR fans regarding Faiz.

For it biting Takumi in the ass, I would mean for something like Yuji disposing Takumi while he's off guard, so I don't get it what'd you mean by failings.

I (and probably those people) mean in a more literal sense, they've said it before that Orphnoch King would mean either Orphnoch or human extinct, with Orphnoch King still alive, that 2 can easily happen, especially that it seems that any of the cast except Kageyama didn't know that he survived. Sooner or later it could be that it happens for real after Orphnoch King returns, especially with the cast not knowing about him he can work in the shadows undetected, humans (the whole Team Faiz, orphan, etc.) extinct for Orphnochs, then Orphnochs extinct due to their short lifespan. Wiped out life on Earth.

Probably from what I catch, he's shouldn't be someone who's not biased for friends only. Confiding on a friend more than stranger may be plausible, but should probably not stooping to low level to actually harm others for it (not counting calling others out like Kaido for plausible reasons at the beginning).

That's awesome! Thanks! I hope we all have fun watching Blade! I think the costume is pretty neat!

I guess by "fail" I mean that he'd let Takumi down, or be unworthy of the chance he was given. I think we're saying the same thing? I don't think it's Takumi's fault if Yuuji attacks him after that.

Since I feel like this is going to come up, it's a different situation to me than with Sawada. With Sawada, it was Takumi and Mari putting their head in a lion's mouth, rather than letting the lion live and staying out of its way.

I just don't feel like there's a ton of benefit in taking the Orphnoch King literally at this point? There's nothing to him, and the danger is largely theoretical. If it bugs people that his threat isn't definitively ended... okay? They're not wrong? It just doesn't bother me at all. I'm never going to be asking for more Orphnoch King, you know?

MAD. SCIENTISTS. KIDNAPPED. TAKKUN.

They're lucky they only got an iron to the face!

You didn't hear? That's just a fake made by editing a Build costume. The actual design for Blade is completely different.

Whoops, I'm pretty sure those are both Kamen Rider Saber. I copied over the wrong link from the wrong tab. Sorry! I meant to say that this image of Kamen Rider Blade has me pretty excited to see him in action!

Ooooookay, I missed a lot since the last time I posted. Not really going to be able to say everything I want to at this point (everyone has been saying lots of good things I wish I had time to directly comment on!), but the main takeaway right now is that Die did actually end up feeling better by the end. Like, way better. I legitimately didn't think this would happen, but I'm seriously happy it did. Partly because, you know, it'd just a supreme bummer if barely mitigated disappointment was the note Die left Faiz on after all this time, and also because, purely for my own sake, I absolutely adore Faiz, and have always felt its finale does a lot of things very very right that I never see given any credit. So seeing Die pop in here with a beautifully written post all about how the emotional resolutions and thematic work of episode 50 of Faiz shine so brightly any quibbles with the plot suddenly seem like a minor concern was a pretty great feeling! There's not a whole lot I can add on to it! Although I will link to the series wrap-up I did after my rewatch of Faiz, which contains a ton of my thoughts on the characters and why the show works so well for me.

I do have one thing to add, though. After all that talk about the symbolic use of that screen, I have to do my duty and point out the final two episodes of the show were directed by... Ryuuta Tasaki. Because, you know, he's pretty darn good at what he does too, I just haven't gotten the chance to mention it a lot in this thread. I think Die will find he also did a darn good job with Paradise Lost in a bit.

Takumi breaking out of a screen was right in the opening this whole time, too, but what's also of note is that it's the visual the entire series ends on. I've never been too sure what exact significance that's supposed to have beyond looking nice, but going by all the very smart stuff Die said, it's maybe become obvious?. If the screen in Takumi and Yuuji's conversation represents basically all the negative things Takumi has learned to move beyond through all his character development, then that final visual of the show, him, Mari, and Keitarou all enjoying some peaceful time together, framed through a gap in the screen, maybe that's the "small happiness" Soeno was talking about? Like there's just the most simple, humble sort of joy of these three people lying on a hill, and the more the bad things seems to dwarf it, the clearer it becomes that it will never truly be engulfed. Or something? This is all probably reading way too much into things, but Die went and put me in a very analytical mood!

https://i.imgur.com/4gyz6O1l.png

Faiz's last episode, though, it really is a good one. I'm very much in the same boat of not even being able to care about the Orphenoch King plotline when the stuff that springs out of it is so wonderful. I said after episode 17 that "people having to make difficult choices about what they value and how they want to live their lives in a world that refuses to provide easy solutions is just about the raw essence of this show", and my foreknowledge of how everything plays out is maybe why I was bummed Dark Yuuji wasn't immediately working out for Die. It's hard to remember, but I may well have been just as disinterested in him for those few episodes when I first saw the series. The finale is really what makes it click into place, for sure. The concept of the Orphenochs being doomed to an early grave might seem to go against the show's idea of coexistence at first, but I see it as basically the ultimate expression of Faiz's overall attitude. It's extolling very idealistic values through a seemingly cynical, heavily pessimistic lens, and that's what makes Takumi's big declaration that he's going to live his live with everything he's got work so well. Faiz is a dark show, but that only adds weight to the statement it lands on, which is that it's worth holding on to your values, no matter how miserable that path can seem. Takumi starts out as this deeply sarcastic anti-hero, but by the end, he's unironically saying his greatest wish is making the world a happier place. The show ultimately leaves it ambiguous how much time he has left to make that happen (people take note of the blurry vision in the last scene, but often fail to notice the lack of any ash on his hands), but as Die pointed out, that's just not what matters to the story, which is really all that needs to be said about the issues with the plotting in the final stretch. They simply can't undo the poignancy Faiz's story was packed with.