[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I don't know how I spent so much time thinking about maybe my least favorite character on this show and explaining what's not working for me, but I'm okay to move on from this! Don't love complaining about this show! This show is a good show!

I know this is vexing (and l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶T̶e̶z̶u̶k̶a̶ I have predicted this scenario anyway from the beginning of your watch), but don't misjudge me, I talk about everyone as much as I can (and by chance there are deep reasonings about that last one), and also even little things from the episodes (well, you sorta kinda also do in your episode reviews). And for another is that I think you and your opinions may (so CMIIW) have a good influence on Tokunation board here (at least for Toku discussion) as an...KR expert?

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I think, for Tezuka, while he does want to change Riders' fates, he also knows how impossible that is. It's not going to keep him from trying, but he's also not going to be too crushed if he fails. I feel like the effort, the value of trying to save someone's future, that's a lot of what his character is to me.

Yeah, the Ren thing, I sort-of get it. Ren's a brooding bad boy, that's almost always going to appeal more than a goofy hero like Shinji.

What I meant for Shinji there, it's more like how some people find Shinji as utterly useless, incompetent, and unlikable for being (seemingly) utterly failing to actually stop the fighting where nobody listens to Shinji so far, Riders keep dying despite all he does, him being a pacifist even in a situation where he shouldn't be for constantly getting his ass kicked by other Riders, and being totally indecisive of what he does like you cover in ep. 21 here. They mainly blame Shinji's stupidity, naivety, and annoyingness for all of this and just prefer the easy way of solving the war by simply killing every other Riders (which Ren is in process of). I keep trying to get Shinji's good traits recognized like being the only one to deduce that Shiro only manipulates them and his performances vs Ouja before. What I find weird is that Tezuka doesn't get as much hate for this (he doesn't possess most of the Shinji qualities there, but he still like you said there, seemingly utterly failed to change the Rider's fate). And also more importantly, for something that happened later in the series.

Ren eventually opens up a bit and reveal his wish to give Eri full recovery, though his attitude and mindset wouldn't change much (at least on how he acts).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Beach Battle is the most iconic. If a Rider's ever going to fight another Rider on a beach, or even just a lieutenant-or-above villain, it's going to be a big one. That's a Feelings Fight. No more iconic venue for a Kamen Rider fight scene. Very heavy iconography, that landscape.

So this is a recurring trait for some of the other KR series eh...

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Two contract monsters for Asakura?! I love it.

So, Asakura's deck trait is that he has more than 1 Contract card. Like before where Raia has Copy Vent, and that Gai has Confine Vent. I think even when Ouja contracts other monsters, he still only has 1 weapon for each monster he contracted so it balances it out (Sword Vent for Venosnaker, Strike Vent for Metalgelas, like he doesn't have Guard Vent, Nasty Vent, etc. But Ouja can still compensate for that for more Advents and Final Vents though. I imagine though what if Ouja picks a better monster as a second contract when he just Final Vents Metalgelas who keeps seeking him for revenge), someone who gives more than just one weapon....that is REAL not looking good.

Also their battle, is one of the rare cases where someone's long time for henshin actually bites them in the ass. Let's talk about how Asakura smashes Shinji with a metal pipe while he's posing. So much that Ryuki is actually powerless to Ouja this one time. I have to also talk about Darkwing saving Ryuki from Ouja's Final Vent, didn't Darkwing get hurt at all? Or Darkwing hits Ouja's body instead of his legs (the attack)? Either way IMO this makes Ouja's Final Vent seemingly weaker. For Ren, your nickname for him should be "Unemployed".

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

A lot of it is based around Shinji, and his struggle with the weight of the Rider Battles. Even Tezuka’s like, People got problems! You don't know, Shinji!

Now yeah, here comes the REAL struggle for Shinji, someone who desperately tries to keep everyone alive. Like Shiro said in ep. 19 "No one has a right to stop that" because the Riders are figthing on their wish. He has a huge hesitation for trying to stop the "pointless fighting" or controlling someone's life like denying their wish. Aside from that I truly think that stopping the war is nigh-impossible in this setting, I mean Shiro specifically chooses morally ambiguous people to participate in the War, that talking them over is just impossible (they stomp on idealism mindset, and some are just irredeemable), and this is one thing I want to bring in; even if the characters stop fighting, they will be eventually eaten by their Contract Monsters for that, again indirectly killing them (either Shiro's choice or when Mirror Monsters are wiped out). Stopping the Rider War seemingly is fully Morton's Fork and a single most impossible task. But unfortunately people misunderstand that and just label Shinji as indecisive coward ._.

I feel like now that also rubs off to Tezuka, he doesn't know what to do (apart from ep. 19 where he told Ren just to give up on Eri).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And, weirdly, that becomes the key to (maybe?) redeeming Ren.

Not the key to redeeming Ren, but it's more like Ren is already shown to have limits on his douchebaggery. Like remember when he constantly calls Kitaoka out for his behavior, calling him the biggest scum and being sick of him because of that? He feels the same for Asakura, he also feels that he's too much of a dick for even Ren. And him "helping" Shinji is also already shown before, when he agrees to help bail out Shinji from prison (even when he pretends not to care about him), and helping him out a bit after Gai steals Ryuki's card, to the point that Tezuka pretty much calls him a tsundere.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

He thought the Rider Battles were some cruel decision Ren was making, not the only hope of a dying woman.

Other than that, he also thinks that Shiro is only manipulating the Riders and won't actually fulfill what they want. I mean he instantly deduces in ep. 5 that Riders fight to get a wish at the end. But understanding Ren more allows him to put aside that mindset? Were him telling Ren that Shiro is a liar stems from him not being that understanding of him?

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Also, to be honest, I'm having a hard time parsing that paragraph. What do you mean about me contradicting myself with the Gai kidnapping scene?

I know you asked me to stop but will answer this one; I meant that you expect her to act like how you're supposed to act in that situation (which would mean, being in anguish? which is what you're against).