[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

But pursuing Ryotaro's course of action is a gigantic waste of time? He needs to confront his feelings of inadequacy, not treat them as valid. The longer Kohana lets this go on, the further Ryotaro gets from feeling better. It's not tough love to stop enabling someone?

Ryotaro's feelings here is what makes a real hero in Den-O where he does more than just superheroics, shown in how Ryotaro helps the contract holders not as Den-O, but as Ryotaro (albeit the use of time travel is needed), and likely what inspires Hana (as she likely doesn't forget what she and Ryotaro has gone through). Kohana may shouldn't let this go on, but what's appropriate is to let Ryotaro keep this compassionate aspect of him live on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yuuto was vaguely content with his obliterated future, and then Sakurai showed up and told him to Get In The Robot! It's a dick move! Deneb treats it like a death sentence! The entire climax of the episode is that Yuuto has doomed himself by accepting those cards! Sakurai is an asshole!!

Well, now I'm not certain who is right there, Deneb doesn't want Yuuto to become Zeronos, but Yuuto's main conflict throughout the whole series so far is him having limited aspect of Zeronos cards to use (it's the thing he ranted to Ryotaro). He reached the "failure" when he finally ran out of cards, but Sakurai solved that. It's unknown about Sakurai yet to judge him as an asshole other than his shady appearence.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I mean, at least it’s not a Sentai, you know?

Jokes aside...well... in Den-O, the stylistic differences compared to previous series, from the giant monsters, mecha-like trains and the vast amount of humor, made a portion of Rider fans feel the series was closer to a Sentai series. Some got past this initial feeling, while others claim that it ruined all Kamen Rider series since.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 36 - “NO POSSESSION, NO SECESSION, TRAIN SLASH!”

Second off, extra-special thanks to AkibaSilver for giving me the idea to do this. It was a year ago, when I was writing up Ryuki, where they said Hey You Should’ve Written Up A Dragon Knight Episode For April Fool’s, and I was devastated that I didn’t think to do that. Since then, I knew I’d need to do something for 2021, and April 1st was when I'd be watching Den-O, and I remembered the Weird Train Kids from that Gaim crossover, and here we are. Once they put the idea in my head, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

I was caught off guard by that description being actually april fools... as I've never seen how you operate in that date.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Like a lot of Den-O episodes that I find sort of uneven, there’s a middle section to this one that I’m astonished by.

Well, this has happened before, but Ryotaro before was a cowardly type and usually shy, and his adventuers as Den-O with evergrowing friends have made him gain more self confidence and determination. He stands up to what he believed in when Yuuto was irritating him before. This is also a good showing of how being confident and assertive doesn't mean you have to gain negative traits for that, unlike, well, Tendou previously for being outright conceited. And for here, it's Ryotaro who seems to have more aggression by just picking Yuuto's Zeronos cards, in ways that not even Deneb did. If you think that Kintaros represents Ryotaro's exaggerated trait that turns into a flaw of him being a martyr without a cause, this part shows the exact opposite of this where Ryotaro doesn't approve of sacrificing methods and opts for another way to save the day and prevents Yuuto from fighting due to this. Ryotaro acts on Sakurai's words that being weak isn't excuse to not do anything, but doing something doesn't necessarily sacrificing yourself right? He approves when Yuuto doesn't plan to sacrifice himself.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That leads into the Liner Form finale, and, I don’t know. I never felt like the Ryotaro Needs To Get Stronger story needed a literal conclusion.

Ryotaro's proof of being stronger, has been proven before by Kintaros struggling to possess him. I guess that's Ryotaro having self-esteem issues, when he doesn't realize that he's been stronger ages ago. I guess the story should've Ryotaro realize this? Ryotaro tries to develop himself to be stronger, but he doesn't need too actually. But this creates a battle problem that Ryotaro can't be possessed like usual and he's stuck in the, Rider-wise weak Plat Form. If you praise Kagami enduring himself as a team to save the day... lol... this is what Ryotaro does which is praised by Momotaros! Ryotaro can't be possessed anymore, and the other Taros Imagins have to cope about Ryotaro now being more independent from them, thus they have a solution of creating a new power for Ryotaro to use by himself, just like the Den-O belt and scanner which seems to come designed in DenLiner, for consistency. I think the conclusion is that for Ryotaro needs to become stronger, actually Ryotaro doesn't need to work on it, and that the Taros Imagins are the one to have to work onto this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

THE BAGGAGE CAR

-Was not super thrilled that the reason why Den-O needed to use Liner Form instead of any of his normal forms was just Time Reasons, and here’s a fun toy and new costume. I usually like the costumes and power-ups to feel narratively motivated, and this wasn't that to me. Felt not very necessary. It’s just one more part of the series-arc that comes across as thinly established and uncompelling.

Liner Form is the final form of Den-O that isn't Imagin related, so Den-O has 2 final forms, Climax Form and Liner Form. And I think the reason of Den-O using Liner Form is about Ryotaro being strong instead of Time? That Imagins can't possess him as easily. Also, personally, Liner Form's sword design is my favorite, I'm into more bigger and bulkier swords (and it left an impression on Ryotaro struggling to lift it), and the finisher is also my favorite among Den-Os with the bigger flasiher part in the train accompanying him (and I hope the sword slash has the actual force of a freight train.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

-Nothing in this series is ever as scary as Ryotaro getting upset with Airi, so I’m glad the show pulls that lever sparingly. There’s a level of realness to it, that relationship, that makes the heightened melodrama of a Kamen Rider freak-out seem cruel. Still, unbelievably effective at communicating Ryotaro’s fracturing mental state.

Well yeah, now Ryotaro works on to restore the memory of Airi. And by the efforts he needed to do it, it seems that Ryotaro can't be blamed for "keeping away" the memories from her as it's not just an immediate telling.