[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Past the two-thirds point in the show Team Ghost is, like, a hive-mind. There's no real dissent, no real alternate strategies, no schemes or intrigue or anything that'd add drama to the group's setup. When characters do act on their own, it's to protect everyone else.

I'd argue that this is a problem Rider can have in general, but it really seemed to be at some of its worst in Ghost. It's difficult to remember any moments the ancillary Riders had towards the end of Gaim until the actual end, and I've always been a bit disappointed with how much Genm falls in line in Ex-Aid despite how much I enjoy him and how much crazier he gets. But at least in those cases you could argue there's either too many characters to focus on and they at least have a lot of personality to them, whereas Makoto and Alain are veeery much just "Ghost's Backup" towards the end. This is another part of why Alain's original character arc still sticks out as one of the best part of Ghost to me, and why Jiro in particular frustrates me a lot.

I'm also gonna buck a trend here slightly and say that I actually do not mind the Ganmaizer that much. Their robotic dispositions and complete lack of personality make for the perfect enemy to Takeru: faceless simple machines that are impossible to reach out to, yet are overwhelmingly powerful in the face of his spiritualism.
It's just that the way they were handled and focused on so much means you very very quickly get tired of them and wish things would move on a little. A good example is how the fact there's so many of them and that they keep reviving even after utter defeat is a GREAT setup for an idea of hopelessness and despair, but it just leaves you really tired and makes the focus "No progress is being made. Yawn." rather than the ideal "Oh dear god, nothing he's doing is making any progress!! How is he possibly going to win this hopeless situation?!"