[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

That’s kind of against the whole point of his character though. He’s meant to be the type of character who actually holds onto his unhealthy beliefs, as opposed to the cliche of giving them up just because of a sappy speech. Which is a lot more realistic and fresh than, say, Ryusei basically deciding to embrace friendship just because Gentaro let himself get stabbed.

If sappy speeches and the magic of friendship are cliches, then so be it. That's the kind of show I want to watch. Maybe we just have different tastes and writing styles. Fourze happens to be my third favorite Heisei Rider show after Faiz and Build. There definitely seems to be a thematic pattern with those 3.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

Based on what?

Theft, blackmail, manipulation, extortion, abduction, murder, accomplice to murder, sexual harassment, attempted fratricide, betrayal.

His list of crimes is similar to Gai's, but without the abusive father backstory to explain his behavior and the adorable robot dog to explain his redemption.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

This franchise is full of serial killers, sexual predators and wannabe omnicidal maniacs. The same series had a character nuking America..

Yeah, that's exactly my point. There are way too many depraved characters in Gaim and no real heroes for me to root for. I'll contrast with some other Rider shows to explain my point.

Ryuki has its own depraved characters but there are also real heroes like Shinji and Tezuka, and their philosophies are what gives Ren the development to become a hero. Antiheroes need heroes to keep them in check.

Faiz is generally considered a pretty dark show but the dark themes are useful to highlight the more powerful themes of hope and kindness. Even when faced with many tragedies, Takumi is still determined to protect dreams.

Build's major themes are love and peace as it stays a very lighthearted and comedic show despite all the very terrible things happening around it. Real heroes don't let their hearts get eroded by cynicism.

Fourze has a moral about friendship at the center, teaching that even people who are very different and have nothing in common on the surface can create a hardy bond founded on mutual respect.

Then there's Gaim....

Gaim is just dark for the sake of being dark without using it to teach any important morals and that's depressing as hell.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

No redeeming qualities? The due goes nuts so he can save the people he loves and his antagonism towards Kouta is very clearly a mid-season development, rather than something he’s been holding onto since forever. And also there’s this new concept. It’s called “forgiveness.” Everyone’s done something terrible, it’s a fact of life. But we don’t send everyone to the execution block over one bad deed. We give them a chance to make up for it, and if they are t willing to do it, THEN we condemn them.

Forgiveness isn't really a new concept though. That's older than entertainment. Mitsuzane is guilty of way more than one bad deed and his redemption wasn't earned so his chance for my forgiveness has passed. He's crossed the line too many times for that.