[Kamen Rider Die]

Fun idea for a thread! Thanks, Deepsea!

Off the top of my head, there's one big thing I love about Kamen Rider, and one small This Literally Just Came Up In Conversation thing.

The big thing is that, for as much as Kamen Rider shows are stories designed to sell toys to children, they never skimp on the stories or the toys for children. Like, the balance between art and commerce in Kamen Rider is exemplary. Series are built around themes like friendship, empathy, living with failure, trying to understand other perspectives, recognizing the limitations of organizations, the difficulty of marginalized groups to argue for their culture, and so on. But episodes are still able to introduce collectibles, role-play items, and suits you'd pay 7000 yen to have as an action figure. It's never this tacky attempt to wring money out at the expense of a coherent narrative; but it's also never some high-minded drama that forgets to make you salivate for merch. It's this impossibly perfect blend of resonant themes and FOMO-inducing aesthetics that is filling up my brain with reactions to art and draining my bank account to get more Figuarts. I love it all.

The small thing is the exasperated way Yuuji says Kaido's name in Faiz. It's this hill he climbs and slides down, this KAIDO, and it's the best. Yuuji is constantly trying to wrangle Kaido, and his whole Harried Mom approach is as charming as it is hilariously, constantly, ineffective. I can hear it again, and I'm smiling from it.