[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The point Ryuki is trying to make there, that I think it does quite well, is that "I'm good at action games!" is not proper motivation to be a hero. Worshiping violence is not a heroic trait. Shinji doesn't fight monsters because fighting monsters is "cool". He does it because he knows the weight a person's death carries, and wants to prevent that from ever happening. Ren, too, does what he does to protect someone who matters to him.

I don't disagree! I think the message the show has in this story is valuable. I'd argue that the conclusion leans a little too heavily on the negative consequences of being a Kamen Rider, to the detriment of the visceral thrills of watching Kamen Rider. (That Ren punch! Come ON.)

There's a touch of miserablism to Shinji's speech to Takuya, where it ceases to be "being a Rider is about more than violence", and starts to be "behold our terrible burden, our lives are agony until a sudden, irrevocable end". (I'm paraphrasing.) I think there's a way the show could've shaped that scene a little better, to not have a child who idolized Riders run away in tears. You know? Shit, if I wanted to watch a Kobayashi show about how no one should ever want to be a Kamen Rider, I'd just watch Amazons again.

Like, and I don't know if I'm belaboring my point or what, there's a miscalibration to that scene for me. The lesson, it's valuable. Kamen Rider was changing, and, while I don't truck with Showa and might be misinformed here, the idea of Fighting Darkness With Darkness was something the franchise was sort-of evolving out of. (My take on Kamen Rider's theme going forward from Agito into what else I've seen in the Heisei era is The Value Of Empathy In A World Of Violence, but that's a better topic for the General Thoughts thread.) Spending some time to give weight to the consequences of being a Rider, to spotlight their goals and desires as more than just Fighting, especially in a show that's literally about them having to fight, yes. Making it seem like they've all been handed a death sentence, no.

It... the whole thing with Takuya, it's a Scared Straight ending that feels too dark for me. It's like he had a piece of cake for dessert, and then when he wanted a second one his parents gave him a 20-minute presentation on juvenile obesity and diabetic complications. Like, man, you can send a message without traumatizing children, can't you?