[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Yes, I think it's safe to say that there will be no finale for you... mentioning those episodes!

I just love so much how the show makes Rinko capable and heroic while also having her make a catastrophic miscalculation. That's such a fine line to walk, to have every choice she makes seem logical and reasonable while the audience knows that she's 100% wrong. And that cliffhanger! I don't think I was ever happier watching Wizard than at the end of Part 1 of that story. Hilarious! Terrifying! I could talk about it until the sun burns out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

They really are pretty great though.

Just like Ghost's first stretch, in my opinion, and we probably already talked about this a bit before, but, man, those first dozen episodes are real special to me.

It's like, I agree with basically all your points about what makes a Rider show better (the fights as punctuation thing! That's great!), and even that Ghost wasn't doing some of that early on.

But I just find so much to love in there anyway? The way the show drills into Takeru's insecurities, whether it's through the intense fights with Specter, or the scenes with him talking to Akari where the show knows to slow down a bit. The character growth, and the great payoffs like him getting the Beethoven Eyecon. The magic hugs! Those are so great! And with a single, very important exception, you can only get that from the first arc. I also don't know if part if this is the difference between watching the show weekly, and plowing through it in a month or two, but honestly I'd say Ghost did a good job giving the Eyecons significance right away. Multiple forms tended to be used in one fight scene, so none of them fell out of use, and narratively, the show effectively capitalized on their importance to enhance the story on occasion through beats like Specter just straight up jacking one of the hero's forms for several episodes, underlining his early status as the "better" Ghost. Actually, Makoto's development throughout the first arc in general is a huge high point for me. Such a payoff when he finally fights alongside Takeru.

I just don't know, man. I love Ghost, and the initial stretch is no exception. It might actually be my favorite overall chunk of it, even.

Like, I think calling out Makoto's development in the first dozen episodes is maybe another way of pointing out what really didn't work for me in those first string of episodes: Makoto isn't the main character, Takeru is. If the secondary Rider has the most complex, exciting storyline at the beginning of your show, something went real wrong. There's totally a place for the non-title Riders to take the spotlight, and that's after the winter movie. I mean, the Alain arc! That's when you want to see more from the other Riders, because you've already shown the audience why they should care about the main Rider. With Ghost, I feel like they didn't really start making Takeru interesting until after they made Makoto interesting and as they were making Alain interesting. Takeru, for me in the beginning, felt like a secondary Rider who was inexplicably given more screen time than the primary Rider.

But, you know, it's art! People draw different things out of art, and it's fascinating to me how folks can enjoy stuff I don't and vice versa. I sincerely appreciate your ability to argue for what's worked for you in these shows. It's always contrary, but it's never just contrary, so it's fun to talk about.