[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Episodes 29 and 30 are one of the best rider filler eps just for the comedy. I love how Kitaoka says to Shinji,"What are you, her Dad?".

The way Shinji calls Kitaoka unreliable, they jump into mirror combat, and Kitaoka hangs back while Ren and Shinji are getting pummeled. When Shinji calls for help, Kitaoka just goes, "Oh, I thought I was unreliable." Hilarious!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Your- your... your favorite- your favorite episode of Ryuki so far was one written by Toshiki Inoue? Are you just trying to torment me at this point? That's it! I need to go cool off by doing something fun... like watching this episode!

Whatever it takes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Because it IS really funny, which is something I insist Inoue is great at being when he wants to be. Like, it's kind of a shame Kino didn't ride into the room for his double surgery on a skateboard back in Agito, because Inoue probably could've made that work.

Yeah, I think Inoue's maybe got Kitaoka's number the best so far, and I love Kitaoka, so it's maybe no surprise that this whole thing worked for me. It's very heightened, in that it's all screwball comedy, and that's an Inoue trademark.

Everyone's insane in this one, but the fact that everyone's insane means it sticks to one tone, keeping it from being distracting. I mean, not counting the Action Superhero opening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Episode 30 is by him too, and both episodes are directed by Ishida again, which explains things like the heavy use of uneasy tilted camera angles while Yui is going completely insane tearing up that apartment.

There's actually a camera move he tries in here that was distracting, but I was in Praise Mode and didn't have a way I wanted to bring it up. When Ren, Shinji, and Kitaoka meet in the park at night to call a truce to save Reiko, every shot of a single Rider has this side-to-side camera move, where they're spilling off to one side. It felt showy to me, something that didn't necessarily serve the story. It's not a scene that had a lot going on it, just dialogue, and the choice to make it unnerving clashed with the tone of the episode. This is a comedy! I shouldn't be alarmed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The thing is... I'm pretty sure I could totally write 6000 words about why Hiiro's dad is a fun character if I really wanted to. It honestly seems weird to me how much of a beef Die seems to have going with the poor guy.

Okay, let me try and explain it.

(I legit hate that character, by the way. This is not a gag.)

Before I started watching Ex-Aid, I had this conception of tokusatsu that was built mostly off of flashes of Power Rangers that I'd seen. That conception was of costumed superhero action... and cringe comedy, childish gags that were insultingly dumb. Pratfalls, mugging, clown-show garbage. (I never watched Power Rangers, so this was all what I thought it would be. I'm sure I was wrong!) When I started watching Ex-Aid, I was thrilled to find out that it was exciting, dangerous, insightful storytelling.. and then Hiiro's dad shows up, mugging and swooning over his son and acting like a buffoon. It was everything I feared tokusatsu would be, but distilled into one character.

Now, I've watched a bunch of Rider shows since then, and there've been worse comedy characters than Hiiro's dad. (I'm not going to name names because Fish will probably lose it again, they might be his favorite characters.) But back then, Hiiro's dad was like a warning sign of everything I was afraid Kamen Rider would be. I've never really forgiven him for that, I guess. It's not fair, but Hiiro's dad is, like, an original sin.

Other than that, though, I just think he's a worthless character. If you needed a goofy character to lighten the mood in CR, you've already got Poppy, and she's a) a way better actor, b) Asuna, so she's got other stuff to do besides be cute and goofy, and c) integral to the storyline of the show and the main characters in it. I hate Hiiro's dad because he's infuriatingly unfunny, but I don't like him because he's superfluous to the show. It's that combination of irritating character who doesn't need to be there that earns him the majority of my ire. That's why he's my punching bag.