[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 17 - “THAT GUY IS HERE! AND IN THE PAST!”

Well, I just wrote a couple paragraphs about Ryutaros’ Airi fandom, and now I can’t remember what I was going to say about this episode.

Do you mind if I add to the Ryutaros discussion? Not that I can hear your answer!

Ryutaros is basically a kid, so I think his love of Airi is more innocent and familial than Miura and Ozaki and even Urataros with his infamous "she's too good to just be your sister" line. The important thing to remember is that Ryutaros is an Imagin which can be a lonely existence. He was born without anything resembling a family of his own so he wants to experience that through Ryoutarou.

Actually, this is something I can relate to, since I don't have a big sister either. It reminds me of a story written by Inoue in Ohranger where the siblingless Oh Blue/Yuji tried to make two brothers stop fighting with each other and that episode made Yuji my favorite member of the team. This is probably another reason why Ryutaros is one of my favorite Imagins, in addition to him being purple and cheerful.

Ryutaros' love of Airi is also a catalyst for his development towards becoming more heroic and tame, by looking up to Airi as a big sister and role model for how he should behave. This isn't like those other guys who are just lusting for her without thinking about what Airi wants. Ryutaros' care is more genuine and from the heart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

So, an episode that starts to peel back his layers is enormously welcome. To see him less as a perennial punching bag and more as someone who has made difficult, unhappy choices to protect the people he loves, to see a side of Ryotaro that is willing to say I Deserve Better Than This, yes. Very ready for that story. We’re only scratching the surface of that here, but it feels like the show is setting up Ryotaro to be at least a smidgen more assertive.

And I think the Imagin feel it, too, since they are pretty sure someone’s going to get kicked off the DenLiner for Ryotaro’s sake, and they’re pretty pretty sure it’s going to be Momotaros.

Which, fun story, even if there’s no way it would ever be Momo. (Ryutaros first, then Urataros, then Kintaros, then Momotaros.) The story needs it to look like it’s going to be Momo, though, because he has the least amount of chill, and the story’s ten times better if it’s him freaking out over his job security. For a character that’s usually almost no help outside a fight, Momo somehow becomes even less helpful the more he struggles to be helpful. It is like his effort to be of use generates anti-useful particles, sabotaging everything around him. Every minute he tries to spotlight his value is another minute on the highlight reel of why he should be expelled from the train. He is failing at a superhuman level, and it’s terrific.

Seeing a KR protagonist be like "I deserve better than this" is definitely uncommon so early in the show.

Regarding which Imagin is the weakest link, I'd say Urataros might be more of a liability than Ryutaros. He seldom fights unless it's near water and he causes a lot of complicated romantic problems for Ryoutarou.

I can see how Momotaros might be secretly worried about being replaced by all these newer younger Imagins, but yeah, there's no way Ryoutarou is going to throw him under the train (haha, get it?). Those two have a lot of sentimental value.