[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Magnugiga

One of my first few posts here was gushing about the first few episodes of Faiz, and while I didn't articulate them as well as you, 90% of your impression was what I felt too. Love the tragicomedy vibe, the insanely cool way the suit and henshin sequence come together, and the playful deconstruction of hero/villain archetypes (good news: more of that coming!).

It just... it feels so personal, so auteur in the story it's telling and how it's telling it. Nothing in this show, from the heroes to the villains to the belt to the pacing, none of it feels safe. Like, the most sympathetic people on this show are the literal monstrous killers. Making this show, they are flying on wings of God They're All Terrible People, and if they run the risk of those wings melting from flying too close to the sun, well, innovation sometimes isn't pretty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnugiga

At the risk of exposing myself as a pure sucker to melodramatic bait, I truly feel the Yuka/Keitaro bit. OTT moments of Unholy Family and Classmate Alliance aside (although yeah, the girls-to-girl bullying depicted here wasn't really that far from the reality I've seen), it's genuinely heart-breaking how much of a complete doormat she is, and how she felt the need to invent a fanfiction of her life just to keep up with Keitaro's sincere enthusiasm and endlessly positive vibe.

There's something here I didn't touch on before, and it's the neat Romeo and Juliet-style Doomed Romance the show's got brewing. Keitaro is a pure-hearted good guy who wants to protect smiles and stop monsters, while Yuka is someone who just massacred a gym class. Star-crossed lovers, man! It's a big emotion, and I'm sure this show is going to do something suitably memorable with it.

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Originally Posted by Magnugiga

As for Keitaro, he initially felt like a caricature/parody of a Kamen Rider persona, but he quickly won me over. Dude really walks the talk, and just look at how crushed he was, to find out he can't get the power to do what he really wants. Just an excellent foil to Takkun and Mari, and show's got an absolute mileage early on milking the way the three bounce off of each other; I really wouldn't mind watching a sit-com series about just the three of them running a laundry service.

Like, it's a testament to how much the show wants to dig into these characters that Keitaro is both a parody of a Kamen Rider AND a full-formed character. As the heroes are slowly won over by his Aw Shucks heroism and, uh, basic human decency, we get permission to see his over-enthusiasm less as a laughable handicap, and more as an innate empathy striving for a way to help others from a dude who unfortunately has zero chill. There's some effort in the early Faiz episodes to emphasize channeling your energy effectively, and Keitaro's a great example of someone who doesn't yet know how to channel his energy.

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Originally Posted by Magnugiga

That was me, and yeah, I think I now have a good idea on what Amazons' like! Love your description of Faiz; four episodes in, and we've got two selfish jerks, a sucker, a doormat, and a luckless loser. This really is Kamen Rider: Jerks and Losers, but what can I say, they're my kind of jerks and losers.

They are all great! It's a great cast. I'd imagine Takumi doesn't have a lot of boosters, compared to other primary Riders, but I love him. It's hard to play the straight man, to play the killjoy, and I think he's found a great way to manage that character type AND be the superhero of the show AND not get blown off the screen by the flashier parts.

I like "Kamen Rider: Jerks and Losers"! It's very accurate! Part of me thinks, and it's something I thought of during the exchange in Episode 4 I screencapped, when Keitaro asks Takumi for help and Takumi rolls his eyes, that the show and hero should be called "Kamen Rider FINE.", all resentment and aggravation on the "FINE.", period as part of the title. Everything I love about the show is balled up in Takumi eyerolls, how theatrical they are, how he could not give two shits about trying to protect people's feelings, let alone their smiles.

I'm also partial to Kamen Rider I Didn't Come Here To Make Friends.

(Oh! And Amazons is worth checking out at some point! I enjoyed the first season, at least. Some folks really seem to loathe it, and it's probably not for everyone, but I thought it had some really solid ideas in the first season.)