[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Deepsea

This is not relevant to anything but I love how much older Kiriya looks then Asumu. The actors are only 2 years apart in age, but Kirya looks like a 20 something as opposed to Asumu looking 14 to 15.

(also that was a really good post die, like holy crap)

Well, Kiriya is a Handsome Boy and Asumu is a Cute Marshmallow (Hibiki thinks it's the cheeks, I think it's the eyes), so they both have their strengths. But yeah, Kiriya looks like he'd definitely be graduating high school, not just starting it. Maybe he's trained himself to look older?

And thanks!

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Sorry if this comes across way douche-y, because I really don't want it to, but I really have no idea how else to word it. So, really sorry in advance, and I understand if you get upset.

But, considering how much this episode spoke to you on a personal level, it spoke to me on a personal level too!

...Except in the exact opposite direction.

I won't go into detail since I'm kinda walking on thin ice as is(maybe at the end of the thread or when I rewatch Hibiki myself sometime in 2021), but I will say that I am atleast glad that this episode managed to reach you in a positive way, even if it gave me the exact opposite feeling.

From someone who grew up in somewhat similar circumstances, sorry about the feelings you had to go through in the past, and I hope things have overall gotten better for you in that respect.

Nobody needs to worry about my feelings if you didn't like something and I did! I am maybe more interested in talking about those things than I am things I agree with! If you've got problems with it, let me hear them!

To your final thought, thanks, but I don't want that post to make it seem like I'm haunted by my dad's memory or anything. My point was more that it's not something that ever really gets better or goes way, but it's also not constantly on my mind. It's one of the biggest What Ifs you can have as someone who lost a parent when you were a child, but it's just a What If. Like, I can't really mourn someone I never knew, but I can occasionally mourn the fact that I never knew him. I'm not sure what your situation is, so I'm not sure if that's been your experience as well.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

There's a real weighty mood to that whole scene, where it's just kinda processing the drama and emotions of the past 20 minutes, each little line saying more than it seems like at first, that I found myself so invested in. I don't know if I would think this episode holds up on a rewatch or anything, but, at the time at least, I was way into it, and I'm glad Die found so much to love in here too.

It's the thing that I think Inoue's really good at that maybe he doesn't get enough credit for: dude knows how to land an emotional episode. There's really no ambiguity to that final scene in the car, no question as to how this story has affected Asumu and AsuMum. There was a point to this story, and Inoue wants you to be clear on what it was. But, like, it's not just spelling it out, it's phrasing it in such clever, poignant ways. It's also letting the actors find that emotion, letting them sell you on what these characters have gone through.

I don't know, I think this episode (and a bunch of Agito and Faiz stories) are great at summarizing their morals and themes without insulting the viewer's intelligence.

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Originally Posted by Deepsea

Bad joke incoming
And here we see a preview of the parental issues of neo-hesei
Bad joke concluded.

If this one didn't get me so much in my heart feelings, I was aching to recap Kiriyia's story with a big ol' classic ALL DADS ARE DEAD.

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

I can definitely relate to Asumu's situation here, too. My dad is alive, but he's never really been part of my life and being around him has never felt comfortable. I remember this episode definitely hit a bit close to home at the time. Now, though, it just feels like another element that doesn't work with the show's pre-Inoue continuity.

We don't learn a lot about Asumu's dad in the first 29 episodes. He taught Asumu drums and he's estranged from Asumu's mom. The only other things we get is that both Hibiki and Ibuki initially remind Asumom of him. From that I've always assumed that he was meant to be an Oni, possibly one who went off into the field and never came back. That's just an assumption, though. I'm pretty sure the plan wasn't for him to just be a neglectful dick.

I wonder! I'd've been surprised if there was never meant to be something with Asumu's dad, considering you can't really do Kamen Rider Dads without closing off that plotpoint. But, yeah, it seems unlikely that the very sweet Asumu would've needed to grapple with abandonment issues. Probably would've been something lower-key.

I do think it fits in with the overall sense of getting Asumu to confront his fears and move forward with his life. Hibiki basically tells him that he's running away from dealing with his dad. Having his dad be someone who's not a bad guy, just someone that won't be a part of Asumu's life... like, it's a sad story, but it's not a mean story? Asumu's dad is just an idea floating through this episode. He doesn't yell at Asumu or tell him he's worthless, because the point isn't that Asumu's dad is what matters. What matters is that Asumu needs to confront his feelings about his dad, not necessarily confront his dad. There's a great point near the end where Asumu says that he didn't see his dad, but he feels like he met him. What Asumu's dad has to say to his son... I don't know, I feel like the smartest thing this episode did was skip that confrontation.

So, yeah, I guess what I'm saying is that tonally, this fits right alongside the shoplifter story or Asumu's entrance exams.

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

So, the monster. I said I'd say my piece yesterday and here it is: I don't like the new Makamou we get here. It's not an awful design, but it is definitely not a Makamou. It feels like a lot of the monsters from here on out are just things that Toei had lying around that got repurposed to be a cheaper alternative to giant CGI crabs.

Also, boy, absolutely nothing to the monster plot in this one. The Oni either stumble upon Dogwheel, or it just jumps them. (In Delta Alley, no less! Inoue's been on this show for two episodes and we're already back in Delta Alley! Delta's so powerful he retooled Hibiki to get them back to his alleyway!) There's zero substance, it's all just style. I liked the style, though!