[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER JEANNE & KAMEN RIDER AGUILERA WITH GIRLS REMIX - EPISODE 1

But women? God, the number of the stories that center a female perspective, or value a woman’s story? Minuscule in comparison, and that’s counting the ones that are so misguided as to make me shout an Ikki-esque I’M BOILING OVER at whatever stupidly patronizing resolution is put forward. This franchise has carved out some great female characters, and memorable arcs for them, but they exist in such weird, siloed isolation. Pathos and passion, floating in a sea of testosterone.

So to learn that there’d be a TTFC series that starred Akiko from W, Poppy from Ex-Aid, guest-starred Rinko from Wizard, and co-starred a bunch of new women I was sure to love – spoiler, I absolutely did – was an incredibly exciting development. Yeah, it’s a TTFC thing, instead of an actual TV series; and yeah, it was bound to disappoint my fevered imaginings of high production values and insightful commentary about how a woman’s narrative has to conform to a man’s perspective; but just the fact that it existed was enough to have me waiting for the day I’d get to experience it. And we did it, gang. We got to the point where I’d get to watch Girls Remix.

Regarding the scoring for females being well-written, equality, or empowering, it's quite often to be done solely in how well they can fight, being good and badass at combat and fighting. The notion that women should never need saving, even in war and crime fiction is swings the pendulum too far in the other direction and creates the problem of only showcasing women who are physically fit, or butch, or masculine.

The “damsel in distress” trope is only harmful when that aspect of the character is all there is to the character. If the writers take into accout for their backstory, feelings, struggles, and development, that doesn't mean she’s a faceless prop just being used for male empowerment. she’s still a person who happens to not fight. People come in all shapes, sizes, temperaments, and ideologies.

Personally I'd rather try to not look into the character's gender, including not giving over appreciation to those fulfilling the bare minimum (e.g. fighting there), as if this kind of approval just puts different standards regarding writing females, either higher or lower.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Best bit, by far, was watching all the energy of Poppy, Sakura, Izu, and Reika play off of each other. Them talking about how they came up with their Henshins? Glorious. Worth the wait, if I only got that. I knew Rinko was a cameo, and that Valkyrie was voice-only, so I’m not disappointed that they weren’t in the rest of the episode. (God, how I wish they were! Akiko's fun, but can you imagine Akiko playing off of Yua?!) But that little scene of female friendship, where it’s these characters from shows where they never had another woman to talk to, let alone talk to them about Kamen Rider stuff? That’s… I just feel like that’s too unique to squander in the middle of an episode, and then surround it with a mystery procedural about trying to get Hana inducted into her third cult.

Guess fair enough, they often don't have another woman to talk to. Though this still shows females inherently being one big happy family of instantly getting along (and thus being ok with overly affectionate to each other unlike men), even Reika who here acts like a supportive older sister. Otherwise, Izu being similar to Philip is addressed here by Akiko herself too, and it's the reason Izu is the most useful. Actually the girls here are also not allowed to use men's bathroom after Tamaki got shat for it.... And sadly, Valkyrie being voice only is another wasted chance for her to shine. And felt like some are thrown under the bus as this focuses on popularity with Reika representing Saber instead of Mei (yeah Reika's actress is Angela Mei... but still), or Rinko representing Wizard instead of Koyomi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And, like, I get it: This is a Jeanne and Aguilera series, with Legend Riders. It’s The Mystery, but the Ladies Night edition. We’re not really here to tell a story about Akiko or Reika or Poppy, we’re here to explore Hana’s thoughts on family, and Sakura’s inability to patch things up with a pissed-off girlfriend. (Most relatable moment: A perplexed Sakura trying way too hard to be upbeat to defuse the tension, and her girlfriend getting more pissed-off at how fake it is. I have been there, Sakura!) It’s all sort of dumb, the mysterious sister/family that Hana never mentioned before, or why/how that sister found her in the first place, but it’s easy to forgive those plot concerns when you’ve only got 15 minutes or so to kick off your story. (In the same boat is How Did Akiko Find These Women And Why.) The special foregrounds the Hana/Sakura relationship at the expense of its Legend Riders, but at least I like the Hana/Sakura relationship. This special could’ve been about way worse things than that.

About Aguilera brushing off Sakura constantly, kinda felt like Jiko in Revice doing that to Ikki IMO. Didn't really understand what makes her so pissed, albeit Sakura didn't do well in defusing it, and others don't know them and their problems as well. I guessed it's because of the Sakura breaking promise thing to save her, but dunno. This special is actually where Aguilera's shown helping civilians, of which of course it's her rumored sister Yuriko.