[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Fredbob392

I won't spoil anything, but Build's ending is definitely better than it's middle. It goes in some really crazy directions

Yay!

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Originally Posted by Kurona

I remember having much the same reaction to you at the Crow's death. Aoba, uh, yeah; centerpiece to arguably the best Kamen Rider episode there's ever been, absolutely incredible and extremely well-handed. But when Kiba guarded Grease and pretty much instantly died and there's not much of an emotional core around that...? It mostly feels like they just wanted to get him out of there as quickly as possible.

Yeah, super weird how quickly the Crows get eliminated. I'll be honest, I saw the Figuarts ZERO pictures on the frontpage a little bit before they showed up in the show, so I sort-of thought they'd be a big deal and, y'know, they're joke characters who get killed off in a hurry? I'm a little surprised they got even non-articulated figures made.

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Originally Posted by Layton13

I think that sums up my feelings on Build quite well. It's one of the more narratively driven seasons, ok, I prefer the more episodic stuff, but I have enjoyed them before, like Ex-Aid, but the difference is that Ex-Aid had actually interesting characters and does something with them even without the filler that generally does that in my favorite seasons like W, OOO, Fourze, Wizard, and Drive.

Build on the other hand doesn't really do that. I personally loved the start of Build and hold it in very high regards, and as some of the best material Kamen Rider has to offer and with the shift into the war ark I was not as invested but still interested where this would go. And with basically continuing the same ark instead of doing something new and the emotional beats not landing for me I grew disinterested something that only grew as the season went on and I have the feeling it all comes down to that basicness.

I love digging into characters heads and when I found a Rider that delivers on that front, like Haruto Soma I grow a new appreciation for the show, but here? It's just very basic, which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem if they did anything interesting with it, but they don't and that just disappointed me.

I think the downturn in quality for the last few episodes is attributable to two things. First, it's the middle, so the main Rider is probably going to have to step back for a bit to evolve the side characters. Second, it's more war stuff, which has a whole lot of moving pieces, plot-wise. Added together, the show can only drop a bit in quality after the intensely personal story they were just telling about Sento. They've got, like, a lot of ground to cover each week about two or three nations in conflict AND a sprawling cast of additional Riders that need to have something to do. It's very difficult to do those things and still make a show that feels like it's growing Sento's character.

It's not death for the show or anything, I feel. The overall plot, the War, is handled in a logical, realistic-ish way. The characters are still worth watching. It's just, y'know, it doesn't feel like it's saying as much as it used to.

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Originally Posted by barnstenchfartface

I'm kind of curious, are you watching the specials in their chronological order in the show? The Youtube Best Match specials and the BD Rogue series both happen during episode 21. Neither are exactly essential watches, though I'd say both have their relevance for the show.

I can't for the life of me remember if the third episodes of either spoil anything from later in the series, though...

Some specials, yeah, but I don't think those. I think just the HBVs and the movies. I saw that Rogue takes place before 21, and those Best Match specials are peppered in the beginning, but I felt like I'd be okay with those at the end, like the Alain specials from Ghost. I definitely want to watch them, but I was afraid of dropping them in and wrecking some of the show's momentum. In retrospect, I cannot imagine trying to do all of the Rogue specials between 21 and 22. That's too cruel!

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Originally Posted by FreshToku

Kamen Rider Rogue is a shockingly beautiful suit, almost too good for this world. And before anyone might say that the fragile sticker on the back of his head is the only flaw, then I'll tell them it's the perfect detail that brings it all together!

Anyhow, I hope you do see the inane Best Match specials if only because the third one features probably one of my favourite of Build's combos alongside KumaTV. ...I might have strange tastes when it comes to those forms.

The Fragile sticker is perfect. He's literally got a thing that says his mind is fragile! I love it. I love the suit, I love the Jaws-y soundtrack to the henshin, I love the way the crocodile jaw close around the mask to light it up... It's so good!

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Originally Posted by DecoyBlackMage

I god damn love Build...So god damn much....

Favorite main rider, favorite secondary rider, and it is fucking hard to top those.

Sento is a really great main Rider, no doubt. He, especially after Emu and Takeru, feels like a grown-up? He definitely seems like he's processing emotions and events in a more adult way, and that's helping not only the Big Emotions episodes, but a lot of the character decisions that link the plot together.