[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BUILD SPECIAL: BIRTH! KUMATELEVI!! VS KAMEN RIDER GREASE!



WHAAAAAT IS THIS SHOW?! WHAT IS THIS SHOW?!

Jesus Christ. Only Kamen Rider Build would think to take a DVD pack-in special, start it off in the most gratingly mugging-comedy way possible, pivot to a hilarious fourth wall-breaking gag with a TV lady who lives in a bottle providing exposition and commentary, then wrap it all up with a considered plea for empathy even during wartime, and an examination of the way traditional portrayals of masculinity in media disregard maternal influences, creating a toxic reliance on emotionally-withholding male mentors. Jesus Christ.

This special was a whirlwind. It might be the most Build thing I've seen yet. It is insane how much this goofy-ass thing is trying to do. As always with Build, they could've done half as much and probably skated by. It's a TV-kun special; who's going to care if it's a partial-strength installment? Instead, this thing goes all in, hitting some totally unexpected heights.

Like, weird to have one of the themes be a downbeat "but all soldiers are people" message. It generally leads to fights that aren't won, but stopped, which is pretty much what happens here. It's complex storytelling to say, Sure, we could just Rider Kick everyone, but this guy is hurting inside. He's confused, and needs to get his head on straight. That's an awesome lesson for everyone to learn. Incredibly cool to take what's probably a young and impressionable audience and say, Kamen Rider helps people. Sometimes with a Rider Kick, sure, but sometimes with compassion. That's unexpectedly brave.

Similarly, for a franchise that is disturbingly preoccupied with emotionally-scarring father/son relationships, it's nice to get a thing that says it is not unmanly to thank your moms and grandmoms. The source of all wisdom is not necessarily taciturn men like Grease. The woman who raised you deserves your respect as much some fighting badass. This is on a special for a TV show about fighting badasses!

Also there was a TV lady who lived in a bottle who knew everything about everyone and she had a stuffed TV on her head and I wish the rest of Build were about her and Sento teaming up to solve the world's problems! What the living hell! My head is spinning!