[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER BUILD MISCELLANY: FINAL STAGE



A super-meta Build stage show is maybe the most perfect thing to watch after the violent, moody Rogue specials. It's not difficult viewing, it's easy to let it just wash over you. It's the dessert after a heavy meal.

I don't know why, after 49 episodes of television, two movies, two HBVs, six additional specials, and four toy commercials, but I'm still surprised when Build goes the extra mile to tie some bit of fluff into its continuity, and makes use of whatever dumb format they have to work in. There's no reason for this stage show to work canonically with the end of Build, but it does. There's no reason to make the audience an actual character in the stage show, but they do. There's no reason to make it so goddamn good, but they did. It's almost frustrating how fun and joyful this stage show is. What could possibly live up to this in the future?

I mean, okay, I don't want to oversell it. This is still a stage show, and it's aimed very young. It isn't really trying to do much more than have a bunch of fights between suit actors. But, even within that framework, there's nearly everything I loved about Build. All the suits look great. The fights are pretty fun. The use of projection screens and lasers is well done. Character relationships are vibrant and clear. And it's just stupidly funny. Here's some highlights:
















For what's a 40-something minute thing to distract children, Final Stage was a lot of fun. The cast translates to the stage so well, and the producers seemed to have so much fun with the format. I'm glad I didn't end up missing this one.