[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

You're right, which is why I phrased it as a question! With a question mark and everything! It was to promote discussion! I am excited to hear about another creator who does reliably good character introductions!

Hmm.. I did say about how Taiga's debut feels like just failing Wataru's mission, the criminal just ran away unprovoked, albeit scared. Taiga succeed in saving Wataru, but what Taiga did seems equal to Wataru just letting the criminal go or losing track for him. I guess I was refering to merely the Taiga intervention here, as it's the 'debut'; Nago and Wataru are already established characters before with continuation of their arc.

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

That feels pretty on-brand for Otoya, though. His entire pursuit of Yuri started because she was a hot girl who randomly hugged him. He didn't really have much sense of who she was as a person and he blatantly ignored her when she said she wasn't interested, but often felt like he had the right to decide what was best for her himself. I'm not going to say he hasn't gotten better, but I think one of his big flaws is that he's still very much a romantic. Not inherently bad, but he's the kind of romantic who creates an idealized version of the person he's interested in and then expects her to live up to that ideal. One of the biggest reasons why he and Maya click so much more strongly is because she has a very similar perspective on the world, especially compared to the far more pragmatic Yuri.

Not saying it was OOC or not, but it's quite a reveal here for Otoya that, even he still had flawed approach to his beloved ones, which is a women (and as a womanizer he'd love all women) who had been building relationship with him. Which is here, he's loving a shadow. Though it can be Yuri being the one to overcompensate to be a 'good partner' as Die said. Otoya actually having a flawed approach to beloved ones like in love with an idea of a woman, that reminds me of Tendou's approach of Hiyori, one of the few people who Tendou is fully affectionate with, that even Tendou unwittingly treat her as object to protect her while neglecting her take on that.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 33 - “SUPERSONIC: SAGA OF BATTLE”

The Wataru/Mio plot gets the most attention here, as one of their major secrets comes to light. (They both have so many secrets from each other! That’s bad! That’s not how a healthy relationship between a superhero and a supernatural executioner should look!) I thought the show was going to swerve away from it, in the restaurant. I actually laughed out loud at Mio arriving just after Wataru excused himself, thinking I was in for another few episodes of them narrowly missing each other. That would be fine, if a little predictable. I like romantic comedy stuff like that, and I’m okay with preserving the tension. But then, no, that’s not at all what happened. Wataru saw Mio, and Mio saw Wataru, and their entire relationship disintegrated in a heartbeat.

I love the ordinariness of that. It’s not a story about a superhero and a supernatural executioner who can’t be together because their species are at war. It’s a girl who lied to a boy, and his heart was broken. It happens in a restaurant, and continues in a dining room. It’s not done on a battlefield, or under moonlight. It’s real spaces, normal environments. The mechanics of it are immaterial, because the emotions of it are universal. Mio lied to Wataru, and she doesn’t know how to make things right with him. Wataru cares about Mio, but he can’t trust her. Add into this that Wataru risks sacrificing his friendship with Taiga if he pursues Mio, and you’ve got a pretty combustible love triangle.

I do admit that Mio arriving after Wataru went away made me chuckle, though my personal feelings is that, if there are secrets from each other, I kinda want for them to get to know about them quickly for some reason, which actually they do as Wataru and Mio did meet face to face in Tagia's dinner, and I'd hope for Taiga to get to know that they know each other, but they actually pretend to not know each other. I mean I actually think they still had affection to each other in that case, though yeah of course they're painfully shy, but I guess them pretending to not know each other had reasons that they're dead silent in their next date or something. But still, I thought Wataru sees the good in others (despite being shy, I mean one of the reasons to be shy is to be afraid of others, and he sunk into that way again when Dai-chan is actually Rook), but it only takes this part to make Wataru distrustful to her? It takes monsters like Rhino Fangire to send Wataru outright into hateful state.

For Shizuka kicking Mio afterwards, well... Shizuka and Mio feud isn't completely gone, and albeit the one at ep. 29 can be OOC, what I said regarding Shizuka still applies for how "Sweet and Protective" exclusively is applied to Wataru; someone could act drastically different towards loved ones, or those who aren't. Wataru gets her "Sweet and Protective" persona but Mio is... not Wataru, so she'd not necessarily getting that; moreover though Shizuka is otherwise normal to non-Wataru person, just that she can be forceful or pushy sometimes to others regarding Wataru, which is here for Shizuka being hostile and kicking Mio out for Wataru's behalf without getting through her. This one's probably the non-OOC take of Shizuka's personality there, unlike ep. 29 where she's outright evil.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The Otoya/Maya plot is a dynamo. It’s the best. Those two have chemistry for days, as shown in a not-at-all-metaphorical scene of them gently interlocking their bodies to bring something new into this world. The creation of Bloody Rose is Otoya sharing something intimate with a woman who is definitely not the woman he is living with, and doing it directly above their bedroom, which is why Yuri is rightfully destroyed when she secretly witnesses it. It’s another scene where it’s profoundly small and personal. Yuri wanders outside in tears, certain she’s stumbled onto proof that she should never have trusted Otoya, that they were never right for each other. It isn't some contrived misunderstanding. Maya and Otoya really do share a deeper bond than Otoya and Yuri. It’s a sweetly devastating scene.

I guess for Yuri, you only treasure what you've lost. Throughout the series Yuri is hostile towards Otoya, though it's for good reasons as Otoya was flirting inappropriately to her. It's irony about how Otoya spends most of the story chasing Yuri, but now, Yuri's chasing for Otoya who had been falling in love with someone else. From the beginning of the episode, I guess it was revealed that the one narrating the trivias are Kivat, and for this part of the episode, the twist is that Maya probably had higher skill cap than what she suggests, what I catch is that, for Maya copying his play, that only means that Otoya's skills on the violin she hears is sub-par to her. This part's a message about own potential to create own violin to draw 100% of talent... though I still don't fully capture of own violin being different except likely more passion to show off your creation's capability aside from your abilities. I wonder if this would apply for Riders too, creating own Riders instead of being handed would make a better fighter (the creator of IXA for example should use the IXA itself by that then).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The rest of the episode is more time spent with Taiga, and I think his natural tendency to support his friends is really refreshing in a villain. (Or, “villain”, since he mostly just murders a Fangire in this episode.) He’s giving Wataru a pep-talk when Wataru looks like he’s feeling down (because Taiga is marrying the girl Wataru likes), or supporting Mio when she’s having a tough time at work (because she’s forced by Taiga to murder for reasons she doesn’t agree with). It’s this fun combination of Really Supportive and Utterly Oblivious To His Role In Making People Miserable that I find entertaining. He’s a charismatic presence that’s equally heartwarming and despicable, which is a very tough line to walk.

I have to remind that if the villain status is ambiguous (with brackets) because 'he mostly just murders a Fangire', evil vs evil can exist in media (as well as good vs good), like for KR series, Kitazaki vs Arch Orphnoch in Faiz. And especially there's Daguva in Kuuga, who is one of the most irredeemable villains of the franchise, whose depravity is him killing his own species (for being too weak). Otherwise, there's a term called anti-villain, which means a villain with redeeming qualities, which'd apply for Taiga but probably can't be talked about here. Saga's finisher (where do you get the name of it being Saga? iirc wasn't mentioned in the series) is also one of those I like better in Kiva series, it's a different take of finishing an opponent by hanging them, instead of brute force attacks, though it doesn't look that deadly still. Kiva Emperor also unveils more of his abilities, in using Dogga Hammer, and the Emperor Thunder Slap.