[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 33 - “FRIENDSHIP, RAMPAGE, AND THE BELT LEFT BEHIND”

The thing that makes it sort of perfect, though, is that he’s also saying all of the Frank Grimes-esque stuff about the cast that anyone not steeped in the heroic sacrifice endemic to tokusatsu would say: Ankh is absolutely bad news; Eiji’s friends are dangerous to him; Eiji is squandering his potential by hiding from his desires; it’s weird that Date just assumed that any random bag of groceries should contain the correct ingredients to make oden. (Okay, Kitamura didn’t say that one out loud, but you could tell he was thinking it.) Kitamura is a pushy, sociopathic creep who clearly thinks that he and Eiji are the only real people in the world, but he does want Eiji to be happy and safe. The things he’s doing are in service of what he views as friendship.

Eiji potentially dooms others by hiding from his desires by being a primary target for the purple Core Medals. But previous episodes portray Eiji's friends as those who'd actually tamper Eiji's reckless habits, like Hina calming down PuToTyra's rampage, and ofc Birth helping directly in battle and Goto indirectly in their battles. Though Kitamura's a creep, it can still feel that Kitamura's telling a truth about Eiji helping him back then in school, as it'd be where his obsession with Eiji came from due to being the only one to reach out to him, making one so attached and needy against the one that helped him out of his funk with no one else to have, while Eiji wouldn't specifically prioritize Kitamura above others, as he cares about everyone, so there shouldn't be special treatments from him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s just, y’know, not friendship. Kitamura isn’t asking Eiji what he wants, he’s dictating what Eiji needs. Friendship isn’t saying you know what will make someone happy and refusing to be swayed, it’s reaching out to someone and letting them tell you how you can help them. Ankh’s a manipulative jerk who is furious that Eiji’s possession by heretofore unknown Core Medals isn’t immediately benefitting him and only him right this second, but he’s also someone who understands that the Purple Medals 100% cannot stay inside Eiji indefinitely. Viewing Ankh as the thing standing in the way of Eiji’s happiness misses that friendship isn’t about forcing someone to live the way you want them to, even when it’d make them safer – even Ankh waits until a fight to trick Eiji into popping out the Purple Medals.

What Kitamura does to Eiji is what's done in an abusive relationship for being a yandere to him. He kidnaps Hina and uses Eiji's panic and sense of helplessness to fantasize himself helping Eiji, isolating Eiji from the rest of his friends so he relies on Kitamura alone. Kitamura's claims of doing what he did for Eiji's own good, including accusing Eiji's allies as only using him, is also what an abuser does to deflect responsibilities from them and gaslight/guilt trip their victim. And yes, he's villainous in this piece of actually doing something criminal by kidnapping someone. Kitamura doesn't know anyone, including Eiji, because if he actually knows Eiji, it should be expected for him to go look for Hina going by what he claims to be his personality of caring for everyone when Hina asked him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Having a ridiculous-yet-normal creep like Kitamura front and center – kidnapping Hina for a minute and trapping Ankh in a net and inviting Team OOO to play around in an unstaffed amusement park that probably violates any number of safety regulations – fits a story where a Bird Yummy somehow feels like the least weird thing in it. It’s an episode that feels unnerved from the start, with kinetic camerawork and unique dolly shots (not Maki; like, a camera on a track) giving even a semi-standard pre-credit Yummy fight a frisson of tension: That parallel shot as OOO and Birth attack the Dino Yummy! The profile shot as Kitamura walks Ankh over the net trap! Even as the show is grounding the story in a pre-OOO relationship from Eiji’s past, it’s letting the scenery and the cinematography elevate everything into the heated realms of melodrama.

The cast clearly doesn't know the difference between base form and upgrades if Eiji asks Date to stop him when he goes berserk as PuToTyra (my favorite OOO form, more than TaJaDor as a probable hot take, in design/color/still green-eyes), of which obviously base Birth can't stop a final form. Unless they bring back Birth Day form for a more even playing ground. Though yes Goto did a smart move to lure TaJaDor to an actual enemy so he'd save everyone from a menace. Unlike TaJaDor, PuToTyra actually beats Kazari and forces him to escape. Other than Hina and Ankh, Kitamura through his Yummy also kidnaps Date and later Goto, of which Goto is teased to become the next Birth here.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Hypothetically, yeah. Hard to think of examples for this though. Dan Kuroto doesn't seem to have attachments to main characters other than Asuna.

It seems to be your personal thoughts though to think that if a morally bankrupt person stays with the main cast generally means they should care about them in their own way, if you claim it's hard to think of examples of this and that cases that aren't this is hypothetical, in your eyes. Dunno if there'd be those who ship Kuroto with Kiriya due to Doctor Mighty XX stuff, and think that bromance is formed between them for that, unless they think Another Ending stuff means they're really not a thing, though there's a difference if a villain want to resume their evil plans but can't, or them no longer wanting that (redeemed or retired, but can still be an uncaring asshole).

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Maybe not as much as some others, but it does still happen. There's no such thing as a perfect show and anybody who claims otherwise is using hyperbole, even if they don't realize it.

About it being hyperbole... dunno if their perfect reputation is also helped by/about nostalgia, like them often being earlier shows a KR fan watched, it often happens that people put things that make them nostalgic on the pedestal. Not limited to KR, but I rather often see double standards from people between older stuff that make them nostalgic and newer recent stuff despite it being something similar, and often those that criticize said nostalgic stuff get backlash from them. Outside of nostalgic stuff, it also can happen that fans of something popular shut down any criticisms about said stuff, or that those who don't like said popular stuff accuse the fans as only following trend or sheep rabid fanboys for disagreeing with their criticism or such, which does sound like propping up these shows as perfect, unlike that when one admits to like a less popular show, they usually start with "yeah it's flawed, but...".

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Other than Latorartar, Putotyra is my favorite Combo for sure! I love the use of dinosaur motifs, the purple on white and the ice element! While it comes at the cost of compatibility with other Medals, I think this results in a suit that looks awesome and complete on its own.

It's also an ungu Combo.