[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It's impossible for anyone, Riders or civilians, not to know Asakura's deeds in this series, yet Morimoto somehow is the only one like that (or actually know but abnormally tolerant; want him to be completely free despite his publicly known severe vile acts - Shinji's not like that actually).

Yeah, but... Morimoto's job is to provide the best defense for his client? It's funny that he's going to be such an easy mark for Asakura, and he's definitely a moron (a 1 to Kitaoka's 100), but he's acting within the boundaries of his profession. It's taken to hilarious extremes, but even vicious felons deserve an amount of human decency. This goes into a debate on rehabilitation versus punishment, which is slightly outside the scope of a thread about how I'm enjoying watching a Japanese TV show designed to sell children toys of superheroes. (Or, at least, this thread about how I'm enjoying watching a Japanese TV show designed to sell children toys of superheroes.)

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Probably the reason that Phase 2 is hugely more popular on internet, other than the petty reason of worse special effects.

Everyone's mileage will vary on this, but I think the popularity of the Phase 2 stuff relative to the Phase 1 stuff is a) the easier accessibility of newer series on the internet activated a lot more fans than it used to, and b) as the franchise expands to tell new stories, attack new themes, it increases the number of fans it appeals to. There're probably a ton of folks who couldn't care less about Agito that adored the stories from Gaim, or Build, or whatever.

But, yeah, again, just my take!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

But the difference is all of the Kitaoka's bullshit is meant to protect Reiko's well-being (not about Kitaoka thinking her being unable to handle the truth, but Reiko being possibly hunted by Shiro and the Mirror Monsters and dying).

I mean, about 15% of Kitaoka's bullshit in this episode is about protecting Reiko, if we're being extremely generous. The other 85% is, as always, about making himself looking good and trying to date Reiko.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Why don't you love Reiko being KOed before Rider Battles? It's just how regular humans fare against Mirror Monsters, they can't fight them at all.

It's just a secret identity trope that I've never enjoyed. Reiko can't know the truth, so every time a monster shows up and/or she's with someone who needs to Henshin, she's got to get knocked out. Bystanders frequently see monsters when they're being saved by Riders, but Reiko's always got to be unconscious. It's not just this show, I've hated it in plenty of other superhero stories. I just think it's lazy writing.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I find Imperer's flattering at Atori to be gratituous to me, it feels so forced (or that's the point?)

Yeah, I think the point was to go over-the-top with it at first. Like, they start big, to make a point of who he is, then they shade it in more on future appearances. (He's not even as over-the-top in his second interview from this episode.) It's a good way to introduce characters in an ensemble, a way to make them pop.