[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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Let’s start off with Kaixa, who is pretty fantastic. Actually, I don’t know that I find him fantastic, but I love what he brings out of Takumi.

Recently, Takumi had been finding his place within the group, working with his friends to be, if not an ally of justice, then maybe someone who would help justice move if they didn’t have anything else going on that weekend. Takumi was becoming almost not insufferable, so of course here comes Masato (Masato! Masato! I think this episode established that you have to say his name three times) to bring out all of Takumi’s insecurity.

And, weirdly, that’s what this episode’s all about? Takumi lost the Faiz belt, and got it back by being so pathetic that his sidekick stole it for him. (citation needed) There’s maybe some residual feelings of doubt there, some subconscious expectation that it could all fall apart again. Maybe that’s why he’s been throwing himself into helping out the rapidly-dwindling Team All-New kaiXa-Men? (There’s a part I really liked, where Bobby Drake apologizes for distrusting him, and Takumi shrugs it off by noting that he’s an outsider, and he can see why they wouldn’t trust him. It’s a small touch, but I like that Takumi understands and forgives being seen as untrustworthy way more than any other slight against him. He’s got so many emotional problems still!) Maybe he’s been trying to prove himself worthy of being Faiz, of being given Keitaro’s faith.

But it leads to an overconfidence from Takumi that’s as hilarious as it is unhelpful. So many laughs this episode come from Takumi taking on challenges and inserting himself into situations and just sucking so bad. There’s the beautiful sequence of him trying to show off for the tennis club and whiffing hard. There’s him walking through horse shit. There’s him challenging Masato to an honor duel, and losing immediately. There’s him just cold brawling with Masato and getting whipped. And there’s my favorite moment.

Team All-New kaiXa-Men are down to two members, with an approaching Orphnoch ready to cancel their team for good. (X-Men comics always get relaunched, they’d be back in less than a year.) They call Mari, who shouts at the downed Takumi that they need to go save them. But when Takumi sees that Masato has looked over at the shouting Mari, Takumi tries to trip him before getting up to leave. Lives are in danger, and he’s like Eff This Dude, and it doesn't even work. It’s stunningly petty, and one of my favorite Takumi moments ever.

I’m sure Masato will get to be weird on his own, but I adored how weird he made Takumi in this one.

I was actually betting that the tennis fail scene would be one of your screencaps but I guess Takumi warning Kusaka not to get kicked by a horse and die (I guess insults are another thing he doesn't bother escalating) is an adequate contender. The tennis fail scene though is the most memorable comedic moment from the show, the way Takumi just walks in randomly and tries to show off which results in an epic fail. It's definitely an unusual way to do the introduction between the primary and secondary Riders.

So now the infamous Kusaka has appeared, the man behind Kaixa. There's a strong contrast between him and Takumi. They're both a**holes but as you may have noticed, unlike Takumi and Kaido who are pretty transparent about it, Kusaka does his best to maintain a good reputation, especially around Mari. He's also an ace, being captain of various sport clubs, including fencing. This finesse to his fighting style makes him a good match for the more difficult Kaixa Gear, in contrast to Takumi's attritive style as Faiz. Kusaka is a guy who clearly has a lot of experience in fighting which combined with the power of Kaixa gives him everything he needs to be a formidable opponent to anybody he deems a threat to his priorities, which I'll elaborate on later when they become more apparent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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Speaking of weird, this is also an episode where Kaido and Yuka go on an uncomfortably high-energy version of an afternoon date, and it’s so weird that Yuuji’s only moment in the episode is being surprised at it.

It’s full of fun comedy, namely how on Kaido is, but the why of it is what killed me. Halfway through the date, Yuka asks Kaido why he’s doing all this. He says it’s practice, because he wants to ask out a girl he likes. To which I definitely shouted OH SHIT MARI about half a second before we got a flashback to Mari telling Kaido to stop being a brat.

I don’t… I did not know how much I needed that in my life. I ship that so hard. Tidying Up with Mari Kaido, brought to us by KaiMari Media, yes please, every episode.

Wow, you took a while to connect Kaido's atypical behavior this episode to his interaction with Mari in Episode 11. Well yeah, he's totally fallen for Mari, which is a problem for Yuka/Kaido but convenient for Keitarou/Yuka. I don't support Yuka/Kaido but I do feel sympathy for Yuka, getting taken on a date by the guy she has a crush on only for him to reveal it's just a practice date for the girl he has a crush on. That's got to hurt.

Kiba's surprised reaction to Kaido is another funny moment. Kaido is so unpredictable!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

By the way, what does everyone think of Takumi's wrist flick he occasionally does during battle? It's such a trivial movement but boy does it look cool time to time.

Agreed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

From the moment he flicks his right wrist, you know he's about to do some serious damage to an Orphenoch!