[dreamcastegirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I want to promote an extremely deep analysis of Ryuki, deeper than anything else I've read on Internet

oh, this is marvellous! I think more than anything I am excited to see another Kamen Rider fan on Dreamwidth, so I instantly asked the author if I could add them, thank you so much for pointing me in the direction of this!

And thank you also for your lengthy reply!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Kanzaki created the battle royale, and ironically that you think you sympathise with him, he's also the reason why the cast is mostly filled with terrible people.

The difference here is I could feel Kanzaki's motive, and I felt sufficient time was spent exploring him. In fact, all of the characters who were villainous or morally ambiguous, save mayhaps for Crab-Man-Scissor-Hands, have a lot of focus in the story in regards to their motives. Yet for Shinji, from start to finish, I did not know what his deal was, he felt like a cardboard cut-out, a facsimile of anime ideals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

And actually he may fail at the first glance, but Shinji does eventually succeed in ending the war, y'know.

Hmm, I see what you are saying, but I feel as if Ren ended the war, and even then, not without the loss of many lives. If Shinji changed anything, he changed Ren's focus, made him believe that the world was bigger than just him, and that asking for a complete do-over would save both Eri and those who had also been drawn into the conflict.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Well to each of your own, but I hope that you won't downplay or cut out his evilness, with you talking about the complexity. Of all the characters you talk about being rotten, Asakura is the worst of them, who is overall just a sadist psychopath who exists to harm and maim others.

Absolutely, absolutely. I agree totally, and yet "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven," right? I feel the story explores how far past the point of redemption Asakura is, and what makes him compelling is that even without all that, amidst all the misanthropy, he still saves a child's life. That's fascinating to me, that's good storytelling, because at the end of that episode, we're left wondering exactly what his deal is, and it's not that he has changed as a character, but we, the audience, have taken a step closer to understanding how someone can end up as Asakura is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Well this is double standard. You talk about Shinji struggling to convince other Riders to not fight, and they ignore him.

You make it sound so serious, DreadBringer, as I'm trying to smear the good name of Shinji in national media! All I'm trying to say is that I understood where Tezuka was coming from, the story explained his motive, and communicated his desires, whereas I did not have the same impression of Shinji. Not, of course, that the failing is entirely the piece of media, both I and the context I watched it in are also to blame, but also... my feelings haven't changed. Having had a while to ruminate on the series, I still can't say that I enjoyed it. I liked aspects of it, but still, it felt to me a significant reminder of much that I dislike of the Heisei era shows.