[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 34 - “BEST FRIENDS, MANIPULATIONS, AND RELATIONSHIPS”

It’s the definitive question of this series. If there’s a narrative engine to this show, that’s it. Where other shows would prioritize an exploration of human desire, or the boundaries between wanting something and needing something, this show backgrounds those themes in favor of a relationship that never quite settles into anything explicitly positive or negative. It’s never exactly a friendship, or a partnership, or a rivalry, or a pact, or a coercion. It’s all of those things. It’s complicated.

And this'd not be exclusive to OOO, I wish that this part of partnership is more widely recognized by the fanbase, particularly for more lighthearted shows, that a party isn't always working together because they care deeply about each other, and that any claims they have otherwise is just described as being tsundere or quirky, particularly if the allies never really cause bad outcomes or has put themselves in risky situations, like how Ankh in this episode hurt his arm to stop PuToTyra's rampage. It's not always all black and white between the hero and villain group, and this isn't only limited to darker shows. Kobayashi's previous series Den-O also was this before in the Imagins being needed for Ryotaro to help others, with Ryotaro also forcing them to comply to him, though obviously Ryotaro would be a positive influence for them, and this'd also apply in OOO for Ankh as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Best part of the episode is probably Eiji saying that even his side of the OOO team is about manipulation. He’s manipulating Ankh so that he can get the power he needs to fulfill his desire to do good, much like Ankh needs Eiji to regain his independence and safety. It’s the Kamen Rider thing of using evil to do good, but it’s not the Medals, it’s Ankh. Ankh is the evil that Eiji’s using to do good. Seeing Eiji, the guy who would lie about participating in a Fun Kidnapping just to spare a creep like Kitamura the embarrassment that Ankh gleefully lets loose, confess that he and Ankh are just using each other to get what they want… it sort of normalizes their relationship in an almost tragic way. It’s not about Ankh’s Cunning Schemes and Eiji’s Heroic Resolve, it’s about two people who need the other to get what they want. That’s it.

OOO was also used by the evil tyrannical Ancient King who wanted to obtain godhood. Desire incarnate in opposite to the desireless Eiji. And previously Date using Birth also came from the even worse Maki (iirc the one who designed the OOO belt as well), who was still evil even during his time with the Foundation like using the scientists as guinea pigs and still talking about ending everything. Though dunno that if you describe Ankh as the evil here, he'd still be described as the heroes in this talks. Being cunning (or even manipulative) is just about being smart, and Eiji does have that too like threatening to drop the OOO belt or getting himself hurt so Ankh would comply. It often happens that do-gooders will blame themselves for things outside of their control, like Eiji blaming himself for making Kitamura act this way, or failing to achieve his dreams he talked to Kitamura before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And yet, again: complicated. It might’ve been that at one point, but everything they’ve gone through over the last eight months has turned that transactional agreement into first a grudging acceptance -slash- cohabitation, and now something more like support. While Ankh could not care less about Kitamura – he immediately and epically blows up Kitamura’s lies in front of Eiji and Hina, right after he told Kitamura he wouldn’t; classic – he knows that Eiji does care about him, so he steers the rampaging PuToTyra away from the helpless fanboy and towards himself. (He was clearly paying attention to Gotou’s strategy at the beginning of 33, and he would very much like you not to say that out loud.) Everything Ankh does at the end is under the veneer of What’s Best For Ankh, but there’s the tacit acknowledgement that Eiji is what’s best for Ankh.

Feels that this episode takes off some blame from Kitamura (not about Eiji's cover story), that Kazari manipulated him to convince him that Ankh is dangerous for Eiji, which is rather half-truth, and that he seemingly has genuine remorse in not realizing that the Yummy would kidnap people, despite that he kidnapped Hina without Yummy stuff, unlike how the Yummy is the one that kidnapped Date and Goto. Some people claim if one is manipulated by a bigger villain, then they're blameless and are completely controlled by the manipulator, but I think the ones that got manipulated still has agency and making their own decisions (except perhaps Lost Ankh, which you'd think so), where Kitamura still jumps into the conclusions to kidnap Ankh without knowing anything about him as well as attacking Hina who is unrelated to the information provided by Kazari.