[LeviathanBlossom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And the fact that it's both of the new women is what made it stick out to me.

Actually, I'm maybe a little frustrated at finding it frustrating? It's really difficult for me to articulate exactly why this situation bothers me. It's two new characters that are thematically integrated into the narrative in compelling ways! That is basically a home run for a writer! And, like, Umi is, in almost every way that matters, exactly the same as Tachibana's old frenemy Kiryu. They're both people who show up as dark reflections of a Rider, someone who went a different way from the hero. And I don't remember giving Kiryu any shit for being a dude who comes in and only comments on the hero!

I don't know. There's a thing about Umi and Twomi that... is it just the dearth of well-rounded female characters? I don't know. I don't know why I keep thinking about this!

Women as characters not having agency or arcs of their own or stories that don't relate to men is, as others have noted, a systemic issue with Kamen Rider (and Super Sentai, and tokusatsu in general). At the risk of stating the obvious, it's also an issue with media overall; Japanese dramas, American television, etc. Ongoing. For a long time. Male-as-default is the (Not Awesome) status quo, which is a way bigger conversation than will fit on these boards, lol

If Blade had women (or a woman! just one!) in a lead role, Umi and Twomi wouldn't stand out as potentially problematic (Hirose and Amane are great, but their stories also revolve around the Riders, which is what secondary and supporting characters are supposed to do!), but we don't. Because all our leads are men. The stories being told are all about men. Women are only in this story to further the narratives of the men at the center of it, and by this point in the show I feel like we're kind of used to it? Then these two women showing up simultaneously shakes up that male-as-default bit and we suddenly think, HEY HOLD UP HERE IS THIS A PROBLEM. And it IS a problem; it's just not a problem specifically with the two of them as characters. They're the symptom, not the disease, so to speak.

Which, incidentally, is why Kiryu doesn't make you (or me) twitchy in his existing only in how he relates to and reflects Tachibana; the show doesn't need MORE male representation, it has plenty.