[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

X-Rider time

X-Rider time

X-Rider kyou mo yuku!
Kamen Rider X! X! X!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

--3--

It’s a hell of a shot, that Faiz Finisher just millimeters from Horsepower’s face. More than that, it’s yet another deeply empathetic moment from Yuuji. He’s got a bunch in this episode alone. I loved the moment when Murakami’s like You’ve Disappointed Me and Yuuji’s just Why Should I Care About That? It’s not adversarial, but simply noted to Murakami. Don’t assume that Yuuji is looking for your approval or respect. For a character that’s searching for direction, for some way to define himself, Yuuji manages to give off such a mature, calming aura. He’s open and considerate with Mari when she coincidentally drops by with his dry-cleaning. He’s able to give Kaido space, but willing to be stern if things get out of hand. He’s maybe the best?

The downside is that he’s still very much in a mode where he’s defining himself by what he won’t do, same as Kaido. If there’s a problem for me with this episode, it’s how the Team Orphnoch stuff feels maybe a little too introspective. It’s fun to see these characters interact, and god bless any time they run into Team Faiz out in the world, but it means that there’s an entertaining episode where not a lot really happens. Most of what moved Yuuji and Kaido forward in this episode is in maybe one minute’s worth of story. It’s a good minute! But it makes the rest of this episode a little, if not forgettable, then inconsequential.

This was a good payback for Kiba after Kaido ditched him in Episode 6 when he was injured. Kaido putting his dream behind him was still ultimately the best thing he could've done but without direction, Smart Brain were able to convince him to be a hunter of "useless" Orphenochs. This is the only way they can really use him since he can't increase their numbers. As Yuka already deduced though, all his talk of hating humans was denial. She knows what it's really like to hate humans, other than Keitarou. Now it's Kiba's turn to knock some sense in to him, literally, as he forces him out of henshin when Kaido hesitates. If he can't kill humans, how can he kill his own kind, especially someone as familiar as Kiba who he has nothing against? His career as Faiz was doomed from the start and Kiba showed great strength and perception to make him see that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

--4--

And, honestly, some of that is because the Takumi story is funny without really growing his character. Or, I don’t know, it does, but it also doesn’t do a great job of writing itself out of last episode’s really smart developments.

The whole episode this time, Takumi is hilariously adrift without the Faiz belt. I don’t know if his brain was inside that phone, but he’s like a zombie in this one. It’s terrific, and it’s clear to everyone around him that, like Kaido, all of his assertions are because he feels exactly the opposite. Him shouting I DON’T LOVE BEING FAIZ AT ALL is because he misses it so much. It’s stupid funny to watch, and it made what little of Team Faiz was in this episode really work.

But they needed to end the plot, get Takumi back as Faiz, and holy shit did they shortcut it. Keitaro swipes the belt from an injured Kaido, mostly because Kaido was being mean to Yuka. He gives the belt back to Takumi to fight an Orphnoch, mostly because he felt sorry for him. (I mean, he totally respects Takumi in general, but that belt toss is probably 70% pity.) Takumi gets to smile because he’s Faiz again, and still accepts the honor of being a Kamen Rider with a definitive I Love This I Guess It’s No Big Deal Whatever You're The One Who Cares Not Me. (Him and Yuka, they don’t love being honest about their feelings!) It’s a story that should be all about Takumi asserting his desires, owning his feelings, and instead he just mopes until someone gives him the belt back.

And, like, that’s funny as shit. It’s totally in the spirit of this show for Takumi to internally change while externally staying the same. It’s just, there’s almost no catharsis to Takumi becoming Faiz again. It’s totally anticlimactic. You can spin it as a cunning subversion of storytelling tropes (Takumi never ever articulates why he wants to be Faiz), but it’s still totally anticlimactic. Worse, it’s placed after a genuinely emotional, fully-earned moment between Kaido and Yuuji. They had an episode-ending story beat, and then they were like Now Here’s The REAL Ending, and… no? Weird choice. Weird, unfulfilling choice.

I can definitely see your earlier comparison between Takumi and Yuka with their mutual lack of honesty. Their reputations and motivations are at odds. Anyway, it's an interesting development for Takumi. He finally accepted his role as Faiz and then was persuaded to give it up. Keitarou seeing how much better Takumi was compared to Kaido really says a lot about how much Keitarou has started to see Takumi as someone with potential to be a good guy. Even Takumi openly acknowledges that maybe he really was meant to be Faiz. In a show where anybody can be Faiz, only Takumi is Kamen Rider Faiz.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BagJo

Respectfully, I couldn't disagree with this more.

I don't want to get at all spoilery, so I'm not going to list off a bunch of in-show examples, but I would say Kaixa is a very compelling character. The actor is well loved in the community, to the point that Kaixa Day is a thing.

The only Kamen Rider to have his own national day, Kaixa Day otherwise known in Japan as 913 Matsuri, September 13th (913). He's definitely a big deal! There was even a manga published recently which adapted the events between Episode 5-13 from his perspective:

https://kamenrider.fandom.com/wiki/Kamen_Rider_913

Might be worth checking out once you're caught up with those episodes.

I forgot to mention before that the Faiz Driver is the first Driver to be called a Driver, although his equipment is still referred to collectively as Faiz Gear. Just another staple of the franchise that started here.