[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by barnstenchfartface

I would actually recommend checking out the Final Stage before at least the New World stuff. It takes place during the final episode, so I think it would serve better as a prelude to post-series stuff than the alternative.

Got it! Will do. Thanks for the heads-up!

KAMEN RIDER BUILD MISCELLANY: 7 BEST MATCHES 1 - 3



Typical Build, using a total blow-off special feature to tell an in-continuity story that expands our view of a supporting cast member. I'm not sure why this show needs to work so damn hard, but I'm always glad they do.

I was pretty sure this was just going to be a To Sell Toys special, spotlighting some other forms that maybe went underutilized. I was not prepared for two-thirds of it to be set during the darkest period of the show, nor was I prepared to get maybe my best look at what Utsumi's all about.

Utsumi is a tough character to pin down, you know? There's almost always an angle, and no matter where you are in the series, you're maybe two episodes at most away from Utsumi betraying or being betrayed. It's sort-of his main thing. Except, as this special points out, his actual main thing is science. That's the one constant. No matter who he's working under, or for what reason, he believes in science. Not like Sento, who believes in science as a redemptive force. No, Utsumi just believes in it as a force. It's knowledge as power, and that's all it needs to be. It's because of that that he's able to see Sento not as Kamen Rider Build, as an obstacle or an enemy, but as a fellow scientist. Utsumi pities Sento a little, seeing his morality as an unfortunate handicap, but he's sincerely in awe of him as a scientist. It's what's unique about him amongst the series antagonists, that feeling that Utsumi and some version of Sento (Takumi, basically) have a ton in common and could be friends under different circumstances. There's no real affection there, not really, so it's not like Utsumi is some Other Man threat to Banjou, but it's nice that Utsumi has this unforced smile when he's doing (mad) science with Sento. It's nice to see.

Setting this special mostly during the Darkest Days of Sento, I'm a little iffy on that. Episodes 21 and 22 are so perfect that, something like this, where a new story is wedged in, it can only add imperfections. I'm super glad it didn't become a televised episode, and I'm super, super glad I didn't watch these episodes until the show was done. The pacing of the end of the Hokuto War, I don't think I'd've enjoyed something this merchandise/action-oriented at that point in the show. Nothing from the episodes felt like it was crying out for clarification (never ever wondered what else Sento was up to for that missing week, didn't need to know how exactly he built the failsafe) and a story like this runs the risk of ruining something beautiful with overexplaining, but I guess there's not really a better point in the show to set this story, nor would it mean as much elsewhere. I don't love that they opted to play in this sandbox, but at least it didn't wreck the great work they did on the series.

Yeah, honestly, way more meat on this bone than I'd've expected.