[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

To be fair to you, I do think Den-O deliberately writes its big mystery plot so as to obfuscate the details, even during the bits where it seems like it's finally trying to fill you in (recall also how the movie tie-in stuff happened, for a similar thing you've already seen the endpoint of), so I can also see where you might have trouble picking out particular bits of information. It's very much a show that likes to play its cards close to its chest.

Yeah, I think we're definitely in Agree To Disagree territory, which is totally cool. There's a level of mystery where I just feel frustrated, and that's sort of where this plot has me. (I seem to recall Ryuki toying around with its series arc in some similar ways that I was not into.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

(And by the way – and I want to stress I'm not saying this to start some argument – but I find it very amusing seeing you talk about a script by Kobayashi the way a lot of people talk about anything Inoue has ever written.)

Do not think you can distract me from disliking this episode by getting me to gush about Inoue!

One of the things that made Inoue great at these types of stories (...damn it) was that his characters were mostly designed to support them. Agito is a show suffused with mistrust, as humanity and mutants struggle to find an uneasy peace. Faiz is a show suffused with mistrust, as humanity and Orphnochs struggle to retain their cultures while expanding them with new viewpoints. They're shows about the impossibility of communication and acceptance, and how those impossibilities make them all the more necessary. There's a natural tendency for characters in these shows to be guarded about their interests and skeptical of sharing with others. Miscommunication and half-truths are baked into them on a premise-level. (Also, they're virtually all terrible people, give or take a Shouichi or Keitaro.)

With this Den-O story, Ryotaro isn't built to be this closed-off and confrontational. It's like he got replaced by Yuuto, who is a way more natural way of telling this sort of story. (It is about half of the Zeronos stories this show has done!) Pushing Ryotaro into Uncommunicative and Aggrieved territory strikes me as discordant; ill-fitting. Perfect story for a Takumi or a Gills, not great for a Den-O.