[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

You met one of them, yeah (and got another mention that Oni remind Asumu's mom of her estranged husband). These aren't the last Oni that get mentioned, too - one of the cool world-building things this show does is that there are lots of other Oni active in Japan. Some of them become regulars on the show, some aren't even seen. It really helps sell the idea that this is a large organization, though, and not just a handful of people hanging out in a restaurant (I will revisit this idea from the other direction when we get to Kiva).

It's a really neat way of doing a large-cast Kamen Rider show. Blade had some elements of this, where Kenzaki (literally had to go look up his name) wasn't the decision-maker, but everyone worked to help him succeed. Here, it's like there's a plan and eventually it trickles down to have Hibiki do his small piece. It's, again, taking what should be massive and mythic, but rendering it commonplace and bureaucratic. I love it so much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I really love how well the show captures the anxiety, it's a real feature of Takatera's shows.

I think my favorite aspect is how, to this point, we don't really know exactly how stressed Asumu is, or what he wants. He's obviously having a lot of internal conflict about his upcoming exams and his plans for the future, but it's all kept internal. Does he want to excel at Jounan? Would he rather follow in Hibiki's footsteps? (The first thing I want to talk about in the next episode post is the end credits.) Is he scared of failure, or second-guessing his choices? Should he be supported, or is this fate telling him to choose a different path? It's crazy open to interpretation, which makes for a fun experience in following his story.