[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

It seems more like life gave him an orange, and he just sort of left it on the table.

I couldn't disagree more.

The part where he says he realized he needed to view the fruit as toys makes me think he came to the exact same conclusion you mentioned above. That it's the gimmick, not the heroic element.

That said, he absolutely has woven the fruit gimmick into the theme of the story -- in fact, it seems to have greatly informed the direction of the story as well.

Gaim is about how kids romanticize adulthood, but when they confront the reality of adulthood they are horrified by the sacrifices they must make. The fruit gimmick, in this case, actually has a thematic purpose (unlike switches, rings, and medals which don't represent anything more than a Bandai toy line mandate). The kids naively play with these fruit-toys just as they play with the notion of adulthood, and just as they discover that adulthood is more horrifying than they excepted, they discover that the fruit-toys have similarly insidious implications.

This adds more fuel to the fire that Urobuchi has a more sophisticated storytelling style than almost anyone who's worked on KR since its Heisei revival. Unlike other writers, he didn't just thoughtlessly thrust the idea of the collectible gimmick out there. Instead, he took the time and effort to imbue the gimmick with meaning -- and make it reflect the most important themes of the story.