[Sh Ranger]

I only started rewatching Faiz a few weeks ago, which means I can talk about this with a fresh perspective. First time was 2015 which lined up pretty nicely for Kamen Rider 4. You might find it surprising to hear, it's actually my favorite KR show!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

555. Hey, the Faiz suit’s pretty cool, right? Those red lines building out of the Henshin. The big central lens of the face mask getting bisected by the antenna, how it forms the Phi, the concentric circles in the yellow. The segmented chest. I like the color scheme the most, black and silver with red highlights. The big yellow face. It’s a real strong visual. Great suit. The fight he has at the end is great, too, with Mari an integral part of Faiz being able to defeat Elephant Orphnoch. (My favorite touch is the excited noise the Orphnoch makes as he causes damage. It’s very human sounding, which is hilarious. Dude is having a pretty great afternoon at the docks!) I really like the idea of Mari being, like, a coach to Faiz. She’s the one who knows how all this stuff works, he’s just the instrument. Honestly, the Grumpy Poorly-Motivated Asshole who’s overseen and managed by The More Level-Headed Girl Who’s Got The Big Picture, that’s what I thought the Yui/Ren stuff was going to be in Ryuki when it started, and, uh, it really wasn’t. This dynamic, I get it a lot more. I get what they mean to each other as people, and I get how they’re each valuable in fighting monsters. I like that she’s got the motivation, and he’s got the power. I like the burgeoning friendship, and the start of a discussion on responsibility. I just like this show, man!

You totally get what makes the suit so unique and high tech. I loved it from the moment I first saw it in action, which was actually in Kamen Rider Decade. It's a simple design and yet feels more powerful than any Rider that came before. There's so many options for customization with the Faiz Pointer, Shot and Phone all with their unique configurations for any situation. I think the suit looks best when the Photon Blood lights up in darkness, such as the last shot in the OP.

It's not just the suit though, but the way Takumi fights. Every punch and kick feels forceful and that kick in Episode 1 wasn't even his finisher. Most Riders escalate their attacks depending on how much effort the fight requires. Faiz doesn't hold back. From the moment he flicks his right wrist, you know he's about to do some serious damage to an Orphenoch! I speculate that this is why Takaiwa Seiji enjoyed being Faiz. They have a lot of the same energy and movement. Smartphones may have surpassed cellphones in popularity and functionality but cellphones are still dynamic and cool and Faiz takes that concept to the next level.

I totally didn't recognize Smart Lady as Shimada from Kamen Rider Ryuki. It's the glasses. It's like Clark Kent all over again. There's a serious contrast with their characters as well which may have contributed to the dissociation. Speaking of Smart Lady, I like how cheerful and upbeat she is about advocating genocide of humanity. I think this is the first time the villains had their own mascot and it's definitely a good publicity move for Smart Brain.

I've always considered Faiz the Jetman of Kamen Rider. Inoue's a talented writer who really understands how to strike the perfect balance between drama and comedy and this show is his masterpiece, being written entirely by him as head writer which was a first for the franchise.

A good example of this tonal balance is the juxtaposition between the comedic scenes with Takumi and Mari as they begrudgingly work together to find their constantly missing identical bags and the dramatic scenes with Kiba like when he was chasing the scarf representing his longing to return to a past that no longer exists.

Thanks for making this thread and attracting so much active discussion. A show as groundbreaking as this warrants it. Even though it's been 17 years, it doesn't feel like it's aged at all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Making fun of TV-N's Faiz subs for saying nekojita when you've been saying "Henshin" for like five threads of this? Should I link Takumi's image song? Because it sounds an awful lot like a Double Standard going on here.

No, but seriously, I've been dreading you getting to this show for exactly this reason. This episode has one of the first errors I remember really getting under my skin. It's when Mari is trying to find out why Takumi is traveling, so she goes "can I ask you something?" Takumi's response to that, if you believe TV-Nihon, was "It'll need an answer, right?" I'm still trying to figure out what that even means. The actual line is a blunt, avoidant "Depends on the question", which is a way more Takumi thing to say, and also makes sense.

I always figured nekojita was an original Japanese phrase so I thought it made sense to leave it untranslated. It's also a fitting quirk for Takumi who tries his best to avoid heated confrontation but ends up causing trouble due to his personality and being the guy who instigates it.

"It'll need an answer, right?" sounds like Takumi is reluctant to answer but knows it's pointless to refuse since Mari will just keep pushing him. "Depends on the question." sounds more evasive and I figure he already knows he's not going to want to answer any of her questions considering how long it takes him to even tell her name, indirectly! I think it's humorous that Mari switches roles between 2 episodes from trying to get away from some guys to Takumi trying to get away from her. So in this case, while TV-Nihon surely has some controversial decisions, I thought this one was okay.