[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Well, most of the time in this series (and some of the other series too), people henshin together, so both party has to complete their elaborate henshin at the same time and can't interfere with the others. So, lesson taken is that you should wait for the opponent Rider to henshin too before you henshin.

I've sometimes wondered why, in Double, a Dopant never jumped Accel during his henshin. Dude does his HEN and then pauses about ten minutes before saying SHIN. If I was a Dopant, and he hit that first syllable, I'd probably be going, "Is... is there more? Is that it? 'Hen'? Okay, well, I got places to be, people to murder, so I'mma just gonna shoot flames at you now."

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I mean Shinji should get credit for this instead of you (someone who like him) labeling him as small-minded. I feel that he distrusts Shiro because of him being creepy and evil, not how he's incapable of doing so. There are no reason to believe that Shiro isn't lying to them (lying as in, giving false hope), so it may show that everyone but Shinji are actually all gullible, insane idiots (because murdering people because a man in a mirror told you that you'd get a wish is insane).

I see what you're saying, and the other Riders are taking a lot on faith, but depending on their circumstances (trying to save their own lives, or the lives of loved ones) I see why they'd believe Shiro. He's got weirdly non-specific magic powers! If he says one of them is Wishes, I don't know why you'd doubt him. He could be making it up, but I don't know that he comes off as a Making Things Up guy. If Kitaoka said that he had wish-granting powers, like, yeah, that dude is full of shit. I guess for me, the demeanor of a mirror ghost is inherently trustworthy? Maybe it's just my poor upbringing.

Shinji and Reiko's interaction for some reason makes Shimada think he's possessed by an evil spirit (he just matures! don't ignore character development, in-universe characters or fandom!). So Shimada's weirdness can be...dangerous here, with her inadvertently harming an innocent. I would talk about this more if this place is spoiler free because it's hilarious to think about what happened in Ryuki movie compared to this one.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I also want to talk about the fight of Ryuki/Knight vs Ouja at the beginning; so Mirror World time limit can cease the fight like Ryuki vs Scissors before and save someone in certain situation. It's shown to have a psychological effect too, look at Shinji. Ren, and Asakura's situation after this. And Asakura is the one eventually "lost" as he collapsed.

The time limit thing is neat, for the adverse effects and additional complications, but I think it's mostly just a super-smart way to create reasons why the Riders don't immediately kill one another. Like, without the time limit, you'd be hard-pressed as a writer to explain why fights stop, why Ouja or Gai or Zolda don't finish off every Rider they fight. With a time limit, it allows for fights to not end in murder, for stories to get multiple face-offs. Plus, it's a real fighting game staple, so it absolutely needs to be in there.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

You ignored the Rider/card stuff from latest reply but let's talk about the card Shiro gave to Tezuka, which is a pretty new stuff (to a watcher like you). Knowing that Shiro gives advantages to those he deems weak/cowardly, this should be used as a tactic by an unrepentant Rider to gain an advantage in battle by pretending to be a hero who wants to save everyone until Shiro gives you the upgrade.

It's hard sometimes for me to talk about new Cards, because with some of them, there's no context. People can be all THE SURVIVE CARD!!!, but in this episode, Quarter doesn't use it, and no one explains what it is and what it does and why it matters and really anything. It's a very ominous card, and, okay? Can't really find it in me to get hyped for something like that, especially when there's so much other content to talk about. I don't know. I'm interested, but not, like, edge of my seat. I don't feel the need to speculate or analyze, not until there's more to go on.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Now it's clear. The exact reason why Tezuka is the only other heroic Rider than Shinji is...because he too, isn't a chosen Rider like him! Shiro chooses morally ambiguous people as Riders, but the upstanding ones are..not chosen, see the pattern? And this is the scene I talk about when you called Tezuka even-tempered. Instead here he completely loses himself there that even Shinji is shocked.

I mean, we haven't been shown all of Tezuka's backstory, just some flashes, so this might be veering into spoiler territory. From what I got out of his scene in the German diner with Shinji, his motivation is unique from Shinji's in that it's built around a form of vengeance, of a friend who died as a result of the Rider Battles, and he wants to stop them because of it. Shinji's motivation was a very split-second I Want To Help, throwing himself into danger. Tezuka seems like he was doing this for a reason, while Shinji was doing this without thinking it through.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Yeah there Asakura's stunt of using Mirror World to fake his death won't last for long. Well previously it was the girls getting kidnapped but Goro...of all people... is getting kidnapped?! Where Asakura holds him hostage in a car to bait Kitaoka. We don't really get to see 2 fighter humans going all out though right there. And Kitaoka, what's with your attitude at the end? The only person you care is held hostage by Asakura and you seem undaunted? Probably he doesn't want to satisfy Asakura and Goro may be able to fight him back?

Yeah, boy, that feels like what the next episode has to be about. Is Kitaoka serious about leaving Goro to die? Will his conscience (citation needed) get the better of him? What's he really thinking about all of this? It's very smart of the show to create that kind of ambiguity, to make you uncertain as to whether Kitaoka cares enough about Goro to risk his own life, or if he sees Goro as a tool and sycophant. It's a great cliffhanger.