[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Regarding the Distress Ball you mentioned, yeah, I'm going to be complaining about that very soon. Good thing this doesn't happen often. She's still a better fighter than even some female Riders like Rina as Delta and perhaps most infamously, Dark Necrom P.

Dark Necrom P? That's unfair criticism, IMO. Alia's Rider form is well, pink version of Necrom, and it had identical stats. AFAIK, iirc (this can be a flak for Rider series) only the main Riders and sometimes secondary Riders got much needed upgrade against escalating threats, and only those Riders can face them, and Dark Necrom P was fighting Ganmaizers, they're the gods of Ghost, and only Ghost Mugen can deal with them.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 05 - “DUET: STALKER PANIC”

It’s a great choice, though? It’s the most testosterone-soaked episode I can imagine, where every man in it is locked into bizarre approximations of masculinity, vainly trying to fit into some shape that literally no one is asking them to fit into. Nago is ostensibly keeping an eye on Megumi because he thinks Kiva will rescue her again (he’s right, very genre savvy), but it’s mostly just so he can crush her spirit and prove his superiority. Wataru is so blinded by the need to channel Nago’s Big Dad Energy that he agrees to stalk Megumi. Otoya’s limitless pride is wounded by Zanki’s leather-clad beatdown, so the two of them engage in an epic street fight that Yuri leaves halfway through. And then there are multiple Fangires abducting our heroines, and they are (hilariously) the least-regrettable elements of this story.\

The things these dudes are doing in this episode… they are all terrible. They all have this idea on what a man should do, and how a woman should be grateful for that decisiveness, and it’s all pathetic. Wataru is the only one who realizes his mistake, feeling equally bad for disappointing Work Dad and Work Mom. That scene, with Wataru moping in the tub, it actually leads into a scene that felt disconnected to me at first, but now I think it’s the key to Wataru’s arc in this story.

You refer to Malcolm as the one portrayed by Kenji Matsuda (Zanki's actor)? Well name's Jiro, and he's a regular at Mal d'Amour, not the owner (Akira Kido, the one with glasses), and there's more surprise to him. And well, I'm not the one to glamorize majority vs minority (better not happen in anyone), that ironically compared to the others who talk about Kiva being sexist, you talk about totally opposite thing of "men = useless, women = level-headed" (but I don't condone bias as well, I can't guess if this is an apologist view for Kiva as it's an Inoue-written show..), though well, I don't know, you said here that "men = useless, women = level-headed", but your complaint below, about misbehaving men, like Nago being controlling, seems to contradict this view that, it's likely (CMIIW) actually one of the "sexist treatments of women" aspects in Kiva that people talk about. And of course Wataru will be the only one to realize his mistake, his closed-off traits aren't morally negative traits like Takumi's, he's the usual sweet toku hero.... and from what I know in a good number of media, I feel like most of the shy types doubled as the kindhearted and gentle type as well due to shy meaning they won't want to cause trouble for instance.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I don’t know that anyone is specifically out of character, weirdly, which is maybe a damning thing to say about this episode. (An episode I liked! I feel like I’m going to have to keep saying that!) Nago trying to control Megumi is pretty much expected from him at this point, but the whole gaslighting thing about her not really disliking him, she’s just jealous of his greatness, that is a new wrinkle.

Dunno if you don't take into account much for some people say about Nago before (not only me, there's also someone saying he's the Kusaka of this show) to avoid spoilers, but here we are, Nago's true nature is revealed here. Nago outwardly has knight in shining armor persona, along with that big dad energy, but Nago's actually a self-righteous punisher inside "God is my ally". Nago is, as they said, a less hateful version of Kusaka, and Kusaka's trait is also his charm facade, and again, CMIIW, but Nago also utilizes that here as his manipulation aspect to gashlight others so that they will look up to Nago better. Later he also has the ego to force Wataru praise Nago out loud, this must be another indicator for what he did to Megumi. Even his Rider name, Ixa, is also the 3 last letter of "Kaixa"! You cannot spell Kaixa without Ixa.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Wataru being easily misled (and way too trusting of confident men) is also well-established. I don’t know if I love him never once saying Hey Is Megumi Actually Okay With This while he monitors her in a pool or rifles through her belongings, but again: way too trusting of confident men.

Wataru being easily misled is already established before btw, he's a doormat and pushover, he subscribes to newspapers he don't really need because he doesn't like refusing others. But the one thing that makes it worse isn't Nago, but Megumi's fan...gire, who asks inappropriate things for Wataru who as a pushover he easily complies. I don't think that the situation will be worse (though it's obviously bad enough already) without that fan...gire, but it still gives upper hand to Nago to practice his self-righteous practice to Kiva.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Even Otoya’s newfound love of fisticuffs feels likely from someone who thinks that highly of himself and works that hard on his presentation.

Again, this is also has been established before. One of Otoya's ways of flirting with women, if they're already taken, is getting engaged in fisticuffs with them so that the women can be awed by the display and be convinced that Otoya can be their knight in shining armor. Otoya being good with fighting is also established for a very good reason (and him losing to Jiro is also established later). And for you refering to Wataru as lunatic... well, it's the bullying people like Wataru received in real life, getting constantly mocked as having autism, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Except for Megumi and Yuri, who are pretty much the voices of reason for this episode. (Shizuka’s only in one scene, because if she continued in the Wataru plot she’d shut it down in about two seconds.) It’s up to them to constantly reframe what’s happening as horrible decisions men are making, not anything for their benefit. Megumi gets the scene of the episode, when Nago tries to blame Wataru for spying poorly on Megumi when Nago told him to, and Megumi just goes No One Should Have Been Spying On Me You Idiots.

I appreciate Megumi taking all the blame into Nago, and despite her usual behavior to Wataru before, overlooks that one coming from him. Regarding Megumi as a model, I know there are already numerous these kind of model photos, but it irks me that the model will put their footwear on places like sofa (dunno to pin the blame on Megumi or the crew though...). Otoya feels that he's doing any women a favor, but he just actually cut the line for Yuri, to pay the phone... but use the phone for his needs. And to call on Otoya's house... so did Yuri just act hostile to a stranger instead of Otoya there? I can't exactly measure the height of the fence Shizuka is standing:

But does Shizuka also... have physical prowess like the other 2 ladies to jump in that height? Even I've never jumped on that height. Regarding her scene with Wataru, it also shows that Wataru is a hated person by the public, due to him (I expected Wataru to deliver... but he's actually one of the dreadful musician trope!) bringing odd ingredients for the violin, albeit I don't understand why the people talk about his smell (or if it's the subbing) instead...