[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

I guess you're ready for this image now?

Fantastic.

Along those lines, I spent a minute last night trying to find a screencap of Keitaro saying Takkun Orphnoch. I didn't want to scrub through a crazy amount of episodes (it was bedtime for sure), so I just typed Takkun Orphnoch into Google. Holy shit am I glad I didn't do that before watching Episode 34, since 90% of the image results were of Takumi's Orphnoch form. That... I would not have expected that search to generate a spoiler!

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Mari reviving as an Orphenoch would've been interesting, just to see how Kusaka would deal with that. Her death hit him hard enough but if the girl he wanted and failed to protect came back as one of the monsters he wants to destroy, it might break him.

Yeah, but I think the problem would've been that it would be another plot that Takumi's on the outside of. Great for Kusaka, dramatically, not so great for Takumi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I love how last episode you were like "I don't want to talk about cliffhanger" and now you can barely talk about anything except the cliffhanger. I understand though. Mari's death was a major escalation of the plot, but Takumi being an Orphenoch is something else! Nevertheless, I'm glad you were able to find some meaning to Mari's death.

I think the difference for me, with the two cliffhangers, was that Mari's felt very much like a plot concern, while Takumi's is a story concern.

(I'm going to explain this badly.)

With a plot concern, the energy is all in How Are They Going To Fix This. It's not so much about the effect it has on the characters, normally. That didn't end up being how the show played it in the follow-up, so there was more to dig into. But in general, those sorts of cliffhangers are something I can only really comment on after they've been resolved.

A story concern, it's a lot more interesting to think about or speculate on. Reveals, twists, that sort of thing. The idea of what a development means for the story is more interesting to me than How Will The Hero Survive or whatever.

I don't know if that makes any sense!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Takumi was desperate. He was determined to bring her back to life no matter what. Kusaka couldn't go through with his plan and that meant he was now the only one who was willing to do it. Until now, he had kept his Orphenoch nature a secret from everybody out of shame, but this time he needed to become the monster once more.

It adds a whole new layer of meaning to his interaction with Orphenochs. Like Kiba, Takumi wants to hold on to his humanity but he fears that someday he'll turn bad like Sawada and betray the people he cares about. He sees the sins of his kind as a reflection of himself and what he might become which is why he wants to believe that they can be good.

I am so incredibly into this show getting into topics like Identity and Shame and Societal Pressure and Acceptance. Very excited!