[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

First of all, I completely agree on the title: you can't just call something "Daddy Fight" without creating some implications. If you don't plan to follow up on those implications, then get out your Japanese to English dictionary and try again.

Maybe they just screwed up their punctuation, and it was supposed to be "Unfinished Daddy: Fight"? Otoya is a remarkably unfinished daddy so far...

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

Second of all, I am seriously reevaluating my inherent Kengo bias. I will freely admit that it has been a long time (~11.5 years) since I first watched Kiva and I really don't remember why the character annoyed me so much back then. This episode has definitely put me on the "Kengo is a good dude and a good friend" train.

He's just super understanding of Wataru's more off-putting behavior? He's not going to let Wataru throw him, you know? He's like Proto-Gentaro: He is going to befriend every reclusive Rider with daddy issues! It's Shakin' Time!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

The biggest thing for me in this episode is the Otoya stuff. Probably the best part of Kiva is Otoya's journey from 1980s Japanese Jean-Ralphio into... well, what he becomes by the end of the series. Picking up the Ixa Knuckle here is a big step in that process. And yes, his creepy obsession with Yuri is still his primary motivation, but he's acting out of legitimate concern for her safety now and not just romantic jealousy.

It's a nice reminder that Otoya can take stuff seriously? When he first runs into Jirou in the forest, he's typical Otoya. He's jokey, he's crude, he's confrontational, he's flippant. So Jirou kicks the crap out of him. After that, Otoya approaches him as less a rival and more a monster. He's serious and dedicated, ready to end Jirou if necessary. It's, like the stuff with Oomura, this other side to Otoya that we don't get to see that often. (I think the last time was maybe Episode 2?)

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

Oh, and finally, one thing that I hadn't realized before this that having both Kengo and Wataru showing off their respective talents in the same episode highlights one of the really weird issues that we have in a series that's so focused on music and musicians:

When Ikemens is practicing, and Kengo's like One More Time, for a second I thought we were going to get, like, Break The Chain or something. Nope! Just Destiny's Play, again, forever. It's a good song, but, like... how did they even put on a concert? Did that crowd just show up to hear a brand-new band play one song one time and then leave? I mean, I'd do a lot to piss off Nago, but that sounds like a bit much.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

But this is an episode that has Otoya becoming (Ka-)IXA, so actually to me, it's Otoya evening out the match, putting him on similar position to Jiro's Wolfen powers, with Otoya's Rider powers.

Eventually, yeah, just not in that shot. It's a reversal of that earlier scene. This time Jirou's coming in and taunting Otoya, while Otoya gets more incensed, until Otoya beats the crap out of him. It's a very cathartic scene!