[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

--3--

So, and maybe I’m wrong on this, but I don’t think I’d’ve assumed that Takumi’s reveal as an Orphnoch in the movie was something that’d happen in the show. The whole movie is so bonkers and separate from the show that I’d probably think the Takumi thing was another weird choice in a weird movie. (Murakami is just a head in a jar and no one ever comments on it! Inoue was just like Takumi Has A Ponytail And Murakami Is A Head In A Jar. That was how he wanted to tell this story! It’s so weird!) It’s important to the climax of the film, and it ties together the main theme of humans and Orphnochs being similarly capable of either heroism or villainy, but it’s not something the film spends a ton of time on. I would probably have written it off as some weird-ass 11th-hour Inoue choice.

(I mean, that's maybe too dismissive of it. It's integral to Yuuji's story in this that Faiz not just be a human he's friends with, but a fellow Orphnoch who choose to fight for humans. It's not just a random choice. But it's also so close to the end of the film that I don't know if the film needed it as a plot point.)

The Yuuji turn here, it avoids the Murakami Junior stuff that bugged me in the series, but… I sort-of hate it?

The Oga costume is awesome, and the rage that consumes Yuuji feels a lot more visceral and substantial than what we got in the series. I’ll give it that. But, man, having it be because Smart Brain tricks him into thinking Mari betrayed him and got his friends killed? Lame! Lame choice! It moves Yuuji’s turn from a moral collapse into an unfortunate misunderstanding, and I hate that so much. In the show, it’s Yuuji’s decision to do every horrible thing he does. He falls on his own, which makes him picking himself back up feel earned. Here, he’s been lied to by the bad guys, and then changes his mind at the last second because he feels bad about it. Like, I can’t stress this enough, Yuuji’s turn has to be a fully-informed decision or it fundamentally doesn’t matter. I get that there’s less time in the movie to make that turn work, but, maybe don’t do it then? There’s a great fight in there with Oga and Faiz (in a Falls Count Anywhere match, which is how you know it’s final), but this is all a misunderstanding and it bugged the shit out of me.

I get the Misunderstanding tag against Faiz now! It’s not great!

That's the thing about Orphenochs. Any human can become one if they have the right genetics. So I guess it's reasonable to presume that Takumi has the means but only becomes one in the movie which makes sense with him being part of the human resistance before getting captured and maybe executed by Smart Brain leading to his revival as an Orphenoch. That's a way of looking at it for sure. Or maybe he already died a long time ago like in the show. Either way, you could have easily dismissed it as only happening in this alternate continuity due to events happening offscreen but it would have been a shame if you risked learning such an unpredictable plot twist too early.

Since you expressed surprised at Murakami, the Head of Smart Brain, I guess you didn't read the prequel I linked? This is one of those weirder parts that get explained.

I agree with your thoughts on Kiba's turn. His reaction is more justified but it's also a diabolus ex machina. Misunderstandings happen but creating misunderstandings is supposed to be a Kusaka thing. Takumi's showdown with Kiba lacks their emotional rivalry since Takumi didn't even know Kiba joined the bad guys until they started fighting. His redemption doesn't require a speech or show of mercy, it just kind of happens. At least he gets to have a dying speech to Takumi entrusting him to take over his ideals so he still believed in doing the right thing. It's a good scene but how they got there is a little contrived.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

--4--

Good film, though, besides that.

The story’s smartly centered on Mari and Takumi’s bond. They become friends super fast in the show, so the movie gets a lot of juice from how long it keeps Mari and Takumi apart. Having the story be about how much these two need each other in their lives, I loved that. The series kind-of spent more time with Mari in Kusaka’s plots as time went on, so I really liked how integral their early-series bond was to this story. Takumi needs the motivation and encouragement that Mari provides, and Mari needs someone in her life worth rooting for. (That is to say, Kusaka is very very Kusaka in this movie, to hilarious effect. He’s cinematically full of himself in this!)

Plus, shit, the whole movie is pretty much about Mari. She’s a bad-ass revolutionary, she’s a party organizer, she’s the reason Yuuji falls and the reason he sacrifices himself… she’s the star of this one, and she does an amazing job.

The new Riders have some awesome suits, too! (Figured I should finally talk about them.) Kamen Rider Oga was a design that took me a minute to get into, but I ended up really liking it. I like the skirt on it. I like the way the horizontal lines on the Omega symbol form the lower part of the face.

I liked Kamen Rider Buzz Lightyear’s suit better, though. That white and purple! So good! Wasn’t crazy about the very rubbery jetpack, but the suit itself was stunning. And that first fight he had, against the mutinous Smart Brain salarymen, very cool! He has a fluidity to his combat that felt unique among the Riders. My favorite of the two new Riders.

While I'll defend Kusaka's status as an antihero in the show, the Kusaka in this movie is a very different Kusaka. You can't even call him a protector of humanity anymore due to his actions in the prequel and Mari coldly calls him by his given name "Masato" instead of the more affectionate "Kusaka-kun". For her to call him like that, it's clear even without reading the prequel that their relationship is in a very different place.

I'm glad that the emotional center of the movie was the friendship between Takumi and Mari since they're the first two main characters to meet in the show and they become very fond of each other. That's what made me invested in the movie, despite the problem with Kiba. Keitarou having his big heroic moment as Kaixa was cool as well and I prefer him as Kaixa to the Kusaka in this continuity. Keitarou deserved to be a Kamen Rider at least once.

Orga is the only Smart Brain Rider whose design doesn't really work for me. The reason why I love the aesthetics of Faiz and Kaixa is how utilitarian they are like they were designed to move fast and deal damage as effectively as possible without any excess, like the whole body becomes a weapon. I don't have anything against capes but putting one on a Rider in Kamen Rider Faiz doesn't make a lot of sense. It just looks too regal for such a heavy sci-fi high tech setting.

Thanks for the vision of Tim Allen as a Kamen Rider. Psyga is my favorite of the two movie Riders as well. Purple though? His Photon Blood is blue and resemble veins. Are you referring to his visor? You could call that a shade of purple I guess but it's lighter and redder than Kaixa's so I call it pink. It's a cool color combo though with the white suit in contrast to the usual black. Very Necrom. I thought his jetpack guns were awesome! His quirk of speaking only in fluent English made his character very distinct.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

--555--

Yeah, fun movie. Great to see some old friends again. (My heart, when it was Team Orphnoch teasing Kaido for always saying he’s going to break bad when he never ever will!) The post-apocalyptic nature of the movie was probably the best way to tell a story that hit on the themes of the show, leveraged some of the character relationships, but didn’t try to rush anything so it lost impact. (Well, the Yuuji stuff, maybe.) I don’t know that I cared so much about the Mina/amnesia stuff, but it was relatively brief and I will let Inoue have his melodrama.

I don’t know if it feels like I’ve said a lot about this movie? I liked the themes, I love these characters, it was a fun diversion. Seems like it would’ve been fun to see in a theater?

The gif you posted was a great comedic scene. Isn't Smart Lady the best evil mascot ever? Anyway, I surprised myself on rewatching that I think her black suit only appeared in Episode 6. I wonder if that's supposed to be significant.

It looks like Yuka/Kaido is canon in this continuity and Kaido reciprocates her feelings. Keitarou and Yuka barely interact. I still favor Keitarou/Yuka in the show but I feel sad for Yuka/Kaido when Kaido confesses his feelings to a fatally wounded Yuka, only to die immediately after to the same awesome CGI Elasmotherium Orphenoch.

P.S. How fortuitous that I should reach my 100th post around the same time as the thread's 100th page!