[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Yeah, this is a really good one. I loved all of the stuff with Kohana and Kintaros. Kohana really is sliding into her role on the show very smoothly here; she feels like the same character, just smaller and a bit sillier in how she approaches disciplining the Taros.

In a lot of ways, this felt like a reset, maybe, for how the show wants to tell its stories and where the emotional weight is going to land. It'd feel out of place or disconnected, if it weren't for how much this show has been telling us over and over, in little ways, that you should really really avoid being a Kamen Rider at all costs. Ryotaro randomly mentioning a few episodes ago that Ryuta still thinks about killing him, everything we're seeing with Yuuto/Sakurai... even the idea that when good Imagins fulfill their purpose, they die.

It's definitely a topic Kobayashi likes to talk about. There was that Ryuki story about a kid who thought Kamen Riders were cool, but the end of the story is Goro weeping for Kitaoka and telling this kid he's a callous prick for wanting to enjoy the weekly adventures of Kamen Riders. This isn't to that level of Art Vs Commerce disconnect (although I wonder how distraught some kids were when they played with their Zeronos role-play items after this one), but the idea of a Kamen Rider's arc being one of constant sacrifice and eventual destruction is a pretty Kobayashi story.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And yeah, Zeronos’ return. I saw it coming, even without my habit of checking Final Form toy compilations on YouTube (my personal favourite is one where Kaixa’s final form is the Kaixa Driver on a beach covered in sand). That said, it’s not entirely the main focus of this two-parter, hence why I’m bringing it up here.

I'm not sure the show ever felt like Zeronos was gone forever, so I don't know how much of a surprise his return is meant to be. There's too much Time Nonsense to keep anyone down for good. I will say that this episode did a ton to support the idea of Zeronos coming back now, in ways beyond the standard The Main Rider Is Outnumbered/Outgunned. (Although the show did that, too!) They really built a nice little framework to talk about guilt, duty, and responsibility. Seems like a good time to force Zeronos to make more sacrifices!

(And that Kaixa thing is EVIL.)