[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 6 - ?555-913-2003?

I don?t care about Karin and Sakuma in this story. It?s bloodless melodrama. Sakuma?s feelings are histrionic and unconvincing. He?s just sweaty, constantly, as though that fills in the blanks of his relationship with Karin. Karin, naturally, is no better. She?s desperate to sacrifice herself for Sakuma?s freedom from guilt, and she?s beatific in her weird particle dispersal (?). None of it feels like a real person's behavior or actions; either of them, both of them.

So this is the kind of melodrama that you draw the line in. And Sakuma is a MOTW anyway so... at best he got relatively more characterization than MOTWs that only existed to fight, though of course there are MOTW that talked like Bugsters. And I don't know about it not feeling like a real person's behavior... Sakuma (and Karin sort of) is of course, given power by the Time Jackers (Ora), so it can warp his senses. Not that this is executed really well or such, but this is the type of someone being driven to villainy because they care about their loved ones... but only them, not everyone else, thus everyone else is ok to be fodderized for their goal. It's like for other example, Roshuo in Gaim. And obviously Karin is a branch of the MOTW so yeah... for her content of dying, it's likely about the life support isn't worth of constant murdering that it can run off quite quickly otherwise, but likely should add more Frankenstein reference. It's what Woz refer too though for his keyword in shooting star, which means ryusei. And this is used by Ora to try to trap the heroes in a damned if you do/don't situation though.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The idea of a story built around sacrifice ? that it?s easier to die for someone than live for yourself ? is something that feels more indebted to the Ryusei School dinks and their mascot, Delta, than it really does for either Takumi or Kusaka. It?s not really how I remember either of them? Kusaka dies from his sacrifice, sure, but it wasn?t exactly a series-long motivation. And Takumi? Jesus, it took Takumi most of a season to even fight for people, let alone care enough to sacrifice for them. (I mean, there?s the iconic If Fighting Is A Sin, Then LET ME BE DAMNED speech, but I always took that as more about society?s judgment than, like, death.) The idea of trying to ground a story of sacrifice in two of the most aggressively antagonistic and homicidally opposed Riders in all of Heisei (and that counts the ones from the battle royale seasons) is? what? No. No, I?m not seeing it.

This episode made out of Takumi as Kusaka's friend, at least one-sided in Takumi's case (for reasons I write below). But as already said, Takumi and Kusaka's relationship here is used as something parallel to Sougo and Geiz's. While Kusaka's one of the actually villainous secondary Riders (in the main series), hatred and enmity isn't necessarily dependent on morals. While Geiz is an anti-hero like most other secondary Riders.... (other than potential tsundere stuff) Geiz' hatred to Sougo is very real and raw, makes sense from what he had gone through and his temper in general (though most primary and secondary Riders have antagonistic relationship, something like Kenzaki with Tachibana-san! post-Isaka death and Hibiki with Ibuki are more of a rarity). Despite Geiz not being villainous, he can have similar hatred and prejudice here to someone else (Sougo) like someone such as Kusaka who is racist towards Orphnochs like Takumi. Regarding sacrifice, it's probably about what Karin, Kusaka (to Karin), and Takumi (to Kusaka) all did, helping a friend can have them risk their life which Sougo agrees upon.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It wasn?t a total loss, though. The action was phenomenal, especially/exclusively the Geiz/Another Faiz fight. I don?t love the Faiz Armor (the cellphone shoulder pads are a bit of a shrug, design-wise) but the fight choreography was really fun to watch. There?s a lot of lateral movement in the blocking, making the one-on-one brawl feel like a fighting game. There?s also? there?s this shot when the RIDER mark shoots onto Geiz?z mask, and the camera pulls in with it, that I really liked. Fun action photography!

Actually, Kusaka here is made as a better person. So yeah regarding Takkun and Kusaka being made relatively closer here, Kusaka had some difference compared to his original self for this to work. Here, Kusaka actually tried to accomplish something good and him pushing Karin off was done by her request. Still he's an extremist here but relatively more good natured compared to his original portrayal. The camera action here is done well too I agree for the parallel in both Faiz and Fourze stuff, though in general I'm also not a fan of the Ride Armors in this series. I like bulky stuff but these ones can be too bulky and making it boxy.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 6.5 - ?THE SECRET OF FOURZE 555?

I?m not sure which gag I liked better: that Takumi and Kusaka are collectively so untrustworthy and abrasive that Team Zi-O bails on them without even saying goodbye, or that this installment just relentless buries the Faiz Legend Riders and worships at the altar of the Fourze guys who were too busy making Bleach to guest-star in this series.

It?s great, though. Takumi and Kusaka?s increasingly thin attempts to connect Faiz and Fourze are a delight, nearly reaching the point of suggesting that cellphones send signals through space, and Fourze is a space Rider, so they?re totally connected. I could watch the two of them unconvincingly bullshit about Kamen Rider shows forever. Good bless these two lunatics.

This explains the actual relation between Faiz and Fourze being pitted here though... it's not about the numbers. It's about the letters on Fourze's limbs, circle on elbow (Phi - Faiz), also X (Chi - Kaixa), and triangle (Delta) on legs. And about both series centered around school.... The Ryusei School. As well as how Ryusei School exists to search for the Orphnoch King, thus fits Zi-O's theme too about being King (and King is "Oh" in Japanese and Fourze's pronounciation had that too; Fo-OH-rze).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I guess I don't see Tsukuyomi that way? She's shown herself to be a confident and outgoing person (she definitely is fine talking to strangers and/or getting Sougo thrown off of a bridge), so her reluctance to befriend Sougo feels like it comes more from I Might Have To Kill You, then it does from any personality conflicts.

And, man, she does like that kid! She's smiling because she thinks his enthusiasm for Time Missions is cute! She's used to working alongside Geiz; the fact that someone's not a human-shaped frown in an oversized collar is probably a pleasant change of pace!

It's ok to not have something to expand, just asking to clarify and wondering if there can be more response. Actually here the response is meaty and does give me better insight on what the relationship are between them (at least regarding your assessment like the reluctant part... which at first sounds similar to how Geiz see Sougo). Outgoing isn't necessarily fine talking with strangers though.... for that part it'd be seen actually on later extra stuff.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

I was drawn into Yuji and his story right from the getgo. One theme in stories that I'm a huge sucker for is Duality, and Faiz had that in spades in its early days, instantly making me really into it for the first two acts. Yuji being a main protagonist while also being the "bad guy" in that he was the Horse Orphenoch was a great hook, and I really dug his arc on trying to hang onto his humanity despite almost everything in the world telling him not to, even going so far as try and bring peace and unity to both sides.

Bad guy? Though Yuji does become a bad guy after Yuka's death, if the "bad guy" status (albeit with brackets) here only refers to his status as monster... it's actually about how Faiz is the first to feature a 'good monster' like him (where previously Ryuki featured first bad guy Rider)?