[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanBlossom

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.

Yeah, those are all good points. I think that's a good explanation of my discomfort. Thanks!

I think it's really a top-down problem of making all the Riders men, which means structurally you're only making space for stories about men. The story would have to shift and alter to make room for a woman's story, and the show isn't really built to accommodate that beyond, like, inference and grace notes. It's a bit of a bummer!