[Kamen Rider Die]

Also (shit, I'm still thinking about this), I feel like a lot of fans who deride the newer shows for lacking the serious mood of some of the earlier shows, it's a weird thing I've seen fans do in other fandoms. There's this tendency to equate Taking It Seriously with Better, and, for me, strong disagree.

I could not care less if a show takes itself seriously. I don't think it's some standard to adhere to, or a goal to strive for. The only thing I care about is if the show takes the emotions seriously. You do that, you can pivot in any direction you want, story-wise. Taking the show seriously, honestly, it feels like it closes more doors than it opens. You throw things like Fun and Humor right the hell out the window, and I'm not sure Very Serious Stories Told Seriously are a great return on that investment.

Because, man, if you only take the emotions seriously, you can do both! You can do high-energy stories that are goofy and fun but also poignant and sad and beautiful and deep! Like, Fourze did a story about the struggles teenage addicts have reentering peer groups and how that can lead to relapses, but they did it with magic space buttons that are handed out by teachers who are also space monsters. It's a fun set of episodes about an intensely harrowing topic, and it works like gangbusters. Shit like that, or (a billion spoilers ahead) when Emu kills Parado, or Hazard Trigger, or Mach feuds with Chase, or Takeru hugs Adel, or all of these things that feel vital and intense and it's all wrapped up in flashy colors and sound effects and shit you can buy on HLJ, I wouldn't trade a moment of that stuff for a more serious show. Not a single moment. And that's what I think whenever folks try to play the It Should Be More Serious Like The Old Days card. The current shows don't lack for serious emotions, real things, and they can still have fun while they tell those stories.

I don't know if that made any sense! I just went to brush my teeth and I got real strong feelings all of a sudden. Sorry for being weird about something that is probably not a big deal!