[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 14 - “WE’RE THE ASTRONAUT BROTHERS!”

This whole episode is interesting in the ways the narrative can’t seem to decide if Fuwa is a righteous man seeking revenge against a wicked enemy, or a deranged lunatic who can’t stop treating every fight as a suicide mission. Nearly every time something spotlights his blinkered fanaticism – like him hearing that the word “lightning” could possibly indicate an unknown member of MetsubouJinrai, so he immediately suspects the next Humagear he meets that utters the word “lightning” in a sentence – something else proves his instincts 100% correct. Literally the first person Fuwa accuses of being a MetsubouJinrai spy is a MetsubouJinrai spy. The universe is constantly validating both his paranoia and his recklessness.

For this one, the kanji that make up their organization's name Metsubou and Jinrai come together to form "Thunderclap (Kaminari) of Death (Bou) and Destruction". So while it sounds more foreign to non-Japanese watchers, of course Fuwa as a Japanese native would figure this out much more easily. This shows that Fuwa is surprisingly observant and careful when he keeps his cool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And it’s… that’s sort of what’s interesting about the narrative’s reluctance to either judge or impede Fuwa’s self-destructive insanity. MetsubouJinrai did cause a disaster when he was a kid. They are responsible for acts of terror. Yua’s worried about him, but Gai’s willing to keep him out in the field as long as he continues to channel his rage in useful ways, which he has. People are generally worried about him (Aruto’s whole Are You Okay thing as Fuwa’s crawling on the ground, coughing up blood, sort of undersells the required dismay at Fuwa’s recent antics), but no one’s acting like he’s crossed any real lines. The universe seems to have given him the green light to get his revenge.

No one does, but it makes sense for the characters of the people that surround Fuwa. Aruto's accepting and forgiving, while Yua is morally questionable and only saw Humagear as tools, the only concern is him potentially ruining AIMS' work. Why would she be concerned about Fuwa's revenge to species she doesn't care much other than AIMS' work? And Gai, he's a horrible person of course, why would he call out Fuwa's traits? If he'd pull something much more than just Fuwa's destructive rage. The latter 2 wouldn't care much about him crossing a line or not as they could be even worse people... not a good judge to indicate the universe giving him a green light!

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That idea is the most interesting part of Fuwa’s continuing story, because the lack of roadblocks or judgments puts the onus on Fuwa to realize his choice: just because you’re owed vengeance, it doesn’t mean you have to take revenge. If Fuwa’s vengeance comes at the cost of his happiness, his sanity, his relationships, his career, his health, his life… what’s the point? And, if it only cost him his happiness, was even that too much to pay?

His vengeance could've definitely cost his career (and probably life by this) at least, as other than how Yua viewed him, he had been known to break the rules frequently in his pursuit to destroy any Humagears he can find.... or also had him completely miss his target. Other than what you mentioned, it seems that those who take revenge can be overconfident to feel that they'd get it which implies they kinda think they're unstoppable (Fuwa can be observant by keeping his cool), when the target won't stand still, cycle of revenge can happen and if the ones who want to take revenge back is much stronger, you can be a dead meat (I guess it can be what you refer for his health/life)?

For others, it's trickier as, it's often presumed that, regarding the happiness (and probably sanity) part, achieving your vengeance would lead into their happiness, though actually it wouldn't, but it's still easy to hold on that assumption if their revenge is never realized. But the tricker part is, when this vengeance is applied on the characters with Rider sensibility (and briefly) such as, Sougo before, pummeling Swartz, of which while Swartz is very much a deserving target, revenge is still a corrupting trait still and Sougo must avoid being corrupted with power, which can make revenge seem to be less of a problem than it is.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Other than Fuwa, I don’t know that the rest of this episode really came together for me? I thought the Astronaut Brothers were neat, until the story abandoned them for Izakuchi. Just finding more about how random bits of toku nonsense have a little cast of characters making them happen… it makes the Rise Hopper one of my favorite bikes now? Some put-upon blue-collar robot brothers, taking pride in their job while Aruto makes life hell for them? That’s a great idea, and I wish the show had wanted to spend more time with it.

I don't know if Raiden actually indirectly admits that he's a spy for MetsubouJinrai.net, as how he reacts to Fuwa's accusations is denying being a terrorist. Which'd mean at least Raiden knows who MetsubouJinrai.net are. IIRC, not all Humagears get to know about them like many who fell prey of being hacked. Otherwise, Raiden and Subaru are established brothers, but this aspect would be more important much, much later, instead of here.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 04: KAMEN RIDER VULCAN - ASSAULT WOLF

The SO-DO version is remarkably accurate, even giving him Zero-One’s brand-new gun to carry. The torso stickers sometimes layer over molded/raised parts, but they link together to make the deco feel contiguous. The only rough spot was the helmet, since the asymmetry and fairly arbitrary coloring of the show suit made the location for the forehead crest sticker feel incredibly unclear. Probably ended up drifting it a little too far to the right. My version also has a very loose left pauldron, so I don’t think this is a figure I’m going to keep on display forever, even setting aside the whole Fuwa Has A Death Wish of it all.

Actually, this'd be something I like more than Vulcan's base suit. Vulcan's upgraded forms are some of my favorite Zero-One suits. His suit here is actually meant for Humagears, and thus lacking things like safety and life support. But... Fuwa can use it albeit he got a blood from mouth, his name Fuwa suits him here that it means "unbreakable", and Fuwa using Assault Wolf displays that. The announcement of "no chance of surviving" has double meaning too, about how Fuwa's opponent can't stand a chance, and also the realistic result of using something meant for someone much stronger than you (if it's not someone unbreakable like Fuwa).