[Fish Sandwich]

In celebration of the very noble and generous decision to selflessly deny Yuri what she wants, here's the theme of the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization, which plays here as it's explained that 86' Ixa is potentially deadly to its users. As you'd expect from such an upstanding group anyone would want to be a part of, it's a totally upbeat and joyous tune...

...except it's actually the complete opposite of those adjectives! Heck, there are tracks on the OST for the Fangire that sound less ominous than this!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Inoue, just… not trying real hard?

This was basically the summary of Kiva I always saw before going into the show, and maybe it's because my expectations were set so low that I don't recall being too bothered by anything in the 2008 plotline. (Also, you know; me) On the contrary, I still vividly recall being a little touched by that happy ending?

Was it unearned like you say it was? I don't know, probably. Looking back through the episode, I see there's like a whole thing with Kiva trying to run away from Ixa at first before hopping on his bike to take the advantage, with the scarf Nago used as a sling for Wataru dramatically flying away in the process? All of which is maybe sorta trying to somehow make some thematic point about Wataru's self-confidence or whatever? It seems pretty thin, even if I'm onto something here, but it's an observation. (I like that Kiva was thrown in a river, by the way; gotta have that in your Inoue show!)

The point is, none of that mattered to me at the time as much as just how sweet I found it seeing the episode end on that note of Wataru finding the courage to sing. It was the first time I think I really started appreciating what the show was doing with his character, if I didn't get it already from the whole Nago hero worship thing.

I don't ~exactly~ relate 1:1 with Wataru (he's no Hiyori), so it didn't hit me on a personal level per se, but I don't know, something about it gave me this very specific sense that it definitely must've hit someone out there pretty deeply? It's a super weird train of thought to describe – the vicarious joy I feel from hypothetical Kiva viewers – but even now, I still feel like there had to be at least a few people out there who really connected with Wataru's particular brand of anxiety that got something meaningful out of this two-parter. Maybe even gained a little confidence of their own after seeing a story where Wataru makes a new friend, who is just genuinely a nice dude, and then they go play in a band together and it unironically works out with no cruel twist or anything.