[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I do think that the Murakami clone doesn't work that well for me either, as it's too much of a big shift (not a fan of character switching side but also shedding every of their previous characteristics without a trace) but I'm also thinking up on how should Yuji act.... (if they still decide to turn him into villain, if him turning into a villain is still related to his character and not just a forced plot twist).

That's really the heart of it for me, though. I could 100% be onboard with a Yuuji who decides that his earlier behavior was naive, that Yuka died due to his belief in coexistence, to become radicalized through a mix of regret and rage. I could embrace that whole-heartedly.

What I got, though, was an unemotional dude who suddenly cared a lot about all of the shit that Murakami cared about, things that were never brought up in Yuuji's storyline before now. It'd be like if Takumi was gone for an episode, and when he came back he was a disengaged bully who longed for excitement he couldn't feel. A heel turn is more than just making a good character play a villain character's part!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Kaido does actually consider Yuji a friend here to miss him and constantly looking for him.

I did really like the outdoors scene with Yuuji and Kaido! It was almost hard to reconcile with everything else (Yuuji seems genuinely happy to see Kaido, but is also willing to use him in the fight against the Orphnoch King), but Kaido more than sold his half of the scene. He's so to-the-bone relieved to see Yuuji. It was emotional, character-based storytelling, and it's the bare minimum of what I want to see.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

You are something else to be only infuriated by this part of Faiz only, while others are likely to be infuriated by the majority of Faiz, with all the muscommunitations part, even dropping the show or just can't proceed through it anymore.

I guess I'm grateful that so much of this series worked for me, then!

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Originally Posted by BagJo

I think this is less a problem with Faiz and more a problem with Kamen Rider overall. Early Heisei especially has a tendancy, in my opinion, to front load their stories with mysteries and then have a back half scramble to answer all/most of the questions they've created in the first 20 or so episodes. I love-love-love Kamen Rider, but it doesn't always stick the landing.

Yeah, it's a problem inherent to telling a season-long story. It's way bigger than a Kamen Rider problem, but it's pretty consistently a Kamen Rider problem. It's just really, really hard to figure out how much plot a season-long mystery/arc needs. Too little, and you're killing time until the next phase can start. Too much, and you're having to rush twists or cram in exposition. It's the hardest part of making these shows!

Like, I love Build, but even that show had a couple episodes where I was like Maybe You Are Trying To Tell Too Big A Story Here My Dude.