[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 2: “RIDE ON TIME”

One of the things that led to me falling in love with the Kamen Rider franchise is its emphasis on helping people. Not defeating villains, or detonating monsters (although those could be a means to an end), but trying to effect a positive change in even a single life.

That’s a real Phase 2 Heisei thing, you know? Not that the Phase 1 shows lacked it, but it was what the Phase 2 shows were about, structurally. In Ex-Aid, the only way to weaken a Bugster is to find out what stress the monster is targeting, and find some way to address it. It’s a show about healing people psychologically, and since it was my first Kamen Rider show, I’ve always thought of that approach as quintessential. Going through all these Phase 1 shows where people are mostly physically imperiled by a monster, and saving them is mostly as straightforward as detonating a monster, it’s had me digging a little deeper sometimes to find what I’m looking for.

Of course, helping people is more than just defeating villains which can threaten them, which Kamen Rider does do in its shows, and KR is not only the one about that for fictional media too (I think many shows do this, but some audience miss the point), but sadly some audience sometimes just miss the point, and worse, in derogatory way, like my essay before in Kabuto, other than the mindset that heroes are people who beat up bad guys, and the bad guys are bad because the heroes beat them up. In relation to beating up bad guys, some people can think that heroic deeds is as simplistic and limited to saving other's lives, and by that those that are saved have no right to behave in any manner other than being grateful; like objecting to something. While admittedly, someone who acts completely as a jerk to the savior is a complete dick move (and it'll infuriate me, and other audiences), but some people simplify heroic as only about saving other lives can be an uncaring view to it. This sort of thinking encourages radicals and extremists to go on with their mission. Basically, you are encouraging the extremists by telling that that they are right, and they don't need to care about the feelings, thoughts and feedbacks from their targets.

There are much more legitimate life problems other than just being saved or not. The view of heroic being only about saving lives can be callous towards anyone's problems as long as they live and not get killed, and while obviously saving others is a good thing to happen, performing heroic deeds is much more than only that, saving is only a part of it, but neglecting the other part isn't complete heroic deeds; And regarding "saving people's lives", there's still some questions, like what if you save someone from immediate danger by plunging them into a different sort of danger without their prior consent? Or like, you harmed and/or violated a person in order to save him/her from danger? What I said is aimed to someone who thinks characters like ideal heroes such as Eiji or anti-heroes such as Kaito as exactly similarly heroic because limiting hero definition as just anyone that can actually save people in need and treating what they do it for (money, recognition, etc.) or any character flaws as something that doesn’t matter, as long as they can save people. Which means that definition only takes "save people" into account and applies to my lecture here, as in KR mostly anyone on protagonistic side regularly kill monsters that attack humans.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

You’d get some stories with emotionally-damaged guest-stars, of course. That Kuuga one with the kid who can’t go home again. The Agito story where Gills teaches a kid to not run from pain. Keiko from Faiz. (Usually kids! Japan’s not doing great with youth counseling, I guess! They should maybe not be entrusting the emotional development of a generation to pretty boys who detonate monsters! It’s not technically their skill-set!) It’s all stuff that focuses in on the Kamen Rider as a protective force, as someone concerned with making sure one person isn’t living a life of fear and misery, but the monster is rarely about that. It’s a little character study that ends with a monster getting detonated, but that’s oftentimes tangential to the emotional stakes. You can weave them together thematically, but the plot is usually Something Emotional that ends with a monster’s demise.

And while phase 1's monsters are mostly acting as the MOTW, don't neglect those phase 1 helping people moments, even if those aren't directed to monsters. In Kuuga, Yusuke is full of little acts of kindness, being freindly and helpful towards strangers of their various problems. In Faiz, Yuji's "therapy" to Takumi. In Blade Kenzaki constantly pleads and searches for a solution that doesn't involve killing Hajime. In Kabuto, Kagami's Gatack debut. And those aren't the only example, those phase 1 series is also full of helping others in positive change ways overall too, even if not for the monsters. If you only talk about helping people thing then there's the treat.

So you finally admit it here that "Japan's not doing great with youth counseling", from what I know before, you excuse the kid's behavior because of them being kids and "there are worse kids than those". And well yeah, a good number of kid is portrayed like that on media, not only Japan thing. Actually, if you excuse those behaviors and not reprimand them, that's the birth of a rotten individual when adult. I mean like, even if they're not threatening yet as a child, children of ruthless dictators are often even more twisted and psychotic than their parents.

And like I said above, KR is not the only media to do this, and I think this is audience influence, but probably, for the petition to making sure that one person isn't living a life of fear and misery, the audience are too focused on a few media who shows terrible people taking advantage of a compassion (but also ignoring or dismissing the parts where gentler approach to emotionally-damaged people works out) to find it believable, and sticks to the belief that people can't change, and clings to the "efficient" solution to always put them down for good, like Tachibana's approach to Hajime.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

So, you can imagine my absolute joy at a plot that’s all about how difficult it is to live with regrets, and how it’s about a monster who leverages that guilt into a way to obliterate a past the victim can’t bear to remember.

The specifics of the plot, the mechanics of it… not sure it works? It definitely has a cause-and-effect assumption that Japan’s infrastructure is as Kamen Rider-dependant as its youth outreach (so no one fixes the vehicular damage in three years?), but since this thing is 100% drilling into Tetsuo’s story, I mostly don’t care about the possible destruction of Japan. It’s a story about Ryotaro seeing a terrible person in pain, and trying to help them. Tetsuo’s a violent bully, but even he deserves a little grace, a little relief from pain. Having Ryotaro not completely get what ‘s going on but know that he can still help this guy? I love it.

(The fact that Ryotaro only really agrees to fight as Kamen Rider Den-O after he sees a hollowed-out, teary Tetsuo is such an important point, and I'm glad the show made it.)

Yeah, time travel mechanics can have these kind of debates. And if you don't care about it as it's a confusing thing, then fair enough. This is also one of Kobayashi's not telling things. The series probably yeah, won't delve into what's going on between the altered events and present time (the only one's shown is Tetsuo's time and present time), probably even the impact to the present time is just simultaneous to the past one. But yeah, Den-O is the progenitor of phase 2 stuff, as said above, and monsters who interacts on daily basis to humans is more prevalent here, I too think that's a good thing to make monsters more interactive, Imagin changing their host's past for the sake of their wish, though probably the monsters before are made as natural disaster-like, so there are no moral problems on killing those monsters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And I love that ending, where Ryotaro is so unmoved by arguments about causality when there’s someone hurting that he can help. Giving Tetsuo that little moment of being with his mother as she passes… this show! This is a show with magical trains and cute goth girls and imagination monsters and they told a story about the necessary catharsis of grief! And how it is more important to unburden people from the self-loathing that comes with regret than it is to detonate monsters!

This episode was, no joke, what I’ve been looking for over the last 300-odd episodes of Kamen Rider. It’s threading together the physicality of the monster plotting with the emotional stakes of the thematic work, and that storytelling is Kamen Rider to me. A mission to improve one life as a weapon against evil. Agreeing to enter a war against imagination monsters from the future because some bully could be at peace with himself if you do. I am so happy to get this type of Kamen Rider back in my life.

Yes why not? Full yes for this moment! A golden chance for Ryotaro to help more, making good outcome for each side, Tetsuo got to be less angsty (likely redeeming him), and Ryotaro possibly being safe now, with him taking on the blame from Hana's mistake who picked the keychain that she stepped on (and she has walked on sands from DenLiner's location). Ryotaro got to know the fantasy elements in his world, and because of that, it's Ryotaro's chance to do more good, which is taming the bully out if he got a chance. Like I said, he helps others whenever possible, but whenever possible, fighting as human form (what he thinks before knowing Den-O) isn't somehting he's able to do. Time travel is a chance for Ryotaro to fix things for anyone instead, even if others plead where Imagins are making things worse for the sake of the their host. But still, to improve things up using time travel, it doesn't always end up in a good note, when a big event (probably Tetsuo and his mother isn't big event in the world, just one person) is altered, then yeah.... and of course, for detonating monster argument, you completely sound in this, as Ryotaro does this in human form, as it's not a problem that requires power to fight, he tags along with time travel. But I want to ask, are the only ones who deserve little grace are the ones that you or audiences are invested in (like terrible jerks who are emotionally-damaged)? And those who don't make impression doesn't, or even deserves hell if they bore you out, like those who cries out "why is this character helping that spineless loser?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

THE BAGGAGE CAR

-Here’s a little section for thoughts I don’t want to try and shoehorn into a larger discussion, and/or a way to talk about the non-melodramatic parts of these shows.

-I like the physicality of Sword Form. There’s a wideness to it, where it’s low but the arc is massive. It’s not dainty or considered, it’s Power and Risk. I think that’s a great way of exploring Momotaros’ personality.

-And, yeah, Momotaros! Love him. Love his feud with Hana. He is trying to be macho in a situation where he is the most cornered character. Such a fun dynamic.

-Hana, also great. She’s a bit more feisty than I’d’ve expected, and that’s a nice surprise. She walks a line with steering Ryotaro, but still recognizing his autonomy. She’s never just, like, ordering him around. It feels like a burgeoning partnership.

-The Den-Liner sets… I’d seen them before, in the OOO movie, and they are charmingly cheap. They are the most archaic Showa thing this show has in it, but it’s so Let’s Put On A Show whimsical that I don’t have it in me to run them down. It’d be embarrassing, if it all weren’t so goddamn energetic and heartfelt. I wish it were better designed, but like Momotaros, I’m going to ignore that wish.

Momotaros being cornered, Ryotaro's bad luck also rubs off on him, he's the biggest source of physical comedy. Momotaros is a foil to Ryotaro's own shy and cowardly personality, where Momotaros is hot-blooded and prideful. There's more to Momotaros' bizzare weirdness, but wouldn't talk about it now. Momotaros also has grandstand approach to things with his bombastic poses, and him naming various things. Momotaros seems to be the one focused on detonating monsters part though, from your talk about, he seems to be the type who pays evil unto evil, like he would just bash thugs head in with the pipe, and likely brutally killing them considering how the attack affects concrete.

I don't think Hana being feisty comes off as a surprise anymore, considering franchise wide, KR includes people like Ozawa, Mari, Hirose, Akiko, Kiriko, Akari, Poppy, Misora, Mei. Also, you aren't ok if a male is being steered without autonomy too, even if it comes from a female? Anyways, yeah it's clearly not, don't know how there's a thought for ordering him around. Hana is completely generous and helpful to Ryotaro, it's much mroe than just burgeoning partnership, while in opposite, she's a hardass to Momotaros, walks a line with being abusive (though Momotaros deserved those for his morally ambiguous approach). There's a reason behind that, but that's spoilers. And Hana is a short for "Hanakuso Onna"!!