[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShyGuy

This is a fantastic summary of why I like Kenzaki so much. He's not some perfect hero, he's got a lot of struggles and, as you said, tends to sometimes wallow in his own self pity a bit. But he recognizes that about himself, and pushes himself to do better because he knows it's right. And when others call him out on it, as Shiori does in this episode, he doesn't get defensive about it at all; he realizes "oh yeah, she's right" and immediately sets out to go help the people at the observatory. These characters living in this house together is really the best thing possible for Kenzaki, because now he has friends that will both reframe his perceived weaknesses about himself intro strength, and push him to move forward when he feels overwhelmed and paralyzed by his own negative feelings. It's a really great dynamic.

Yeah, for real, he's a fascinating character, Kenzaki. He's flawed in a really curious way. He's got a level of self-doubt that I don't remember seeing a lot in other Riders. But that self-doubt, the fear that he'll fail, that's how he gets to be a hero.

There's a Batman thing I really like. It's from Tom King's (excellent) run on the character, and it comes up a lot of times over the series. It's that everyone gets scared. Everyone feels afraid. But that means everyone gets a chance to overcome it, to be brave.

It's something you can see in Kenzaki's character, even in just the second episode. He doesn't think much of himself, doesn't know if he's good enough. But he has to be good enough, for the sake of everyone else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShyGuy

On another note, one thing I was reminded of when rewatching this episode is how cool it is that Blade's transformation isn't just a fancy visual, he uses the transformation process itself as a weapon. It's an awesome moment when he's getting choked by the Undead's vines, but manages to get the belt on and the blue rectangle projection literally just smashes into the Undead and forces it off of him. That's such a unique and clever feature that I like a lot.

Yeah! Thank you for bringing that up! I love when the Henshin is something... tangible? I like when villains can interrupt it (like the Undead did), and I like when the Rider can use it as a weapon (as Blade did). I like when it's not just something that the monsters stand around and wait for. Like, don't get me wrong, I'm an Ex-Aid kid, I love an elaborate Henshin. But the, I don't know, the diegetic Henshin is also pretty goddamn cool.