[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Poor Megumi for not keeping IXA? Yeah ep. 31 was the only time she got to be one...

Oh, no, I mean "poor Megumi" because the show has nothing for her right now. She doesn't have a plot or an arc or anything. She's just sort of randomly around in group scenes? That's such a waste of a talented performer.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

What do you mean about Yuri being thankless btw?

I feel like her inability to confront Otoya is leading to some repetitive scenes? She was a badass warrior who stood up to decorative vampire monsters, and now her only role is look miserable while she's metaphorically cheated on. It's not the best storyline I can imagine!

(That said, I did like how the show used Yuri in the most recent episode. Some of it was for the timeless outfit she had on - the plaid shirt, olive pants, and black All-Stars totally worked for her - but some of it was just for her taking her anger out on a bunch of monsters. Crying Yuri is something I'm not looking for nearly as much as Murderous Yuri.)

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

I'm honestly starting to get a little tired of this phase of the show. This is part where you really need to be invested in the Wataru/Taiga/Mio love triangle because it is eating up most of the show's screen time anymore. Nago and Megumi are largely getting isolated to one scene per episode and the '86 cast isn't faring much better. I know I praised the pacing of this arc a few episodes ago, but I think I'm going to have to clarify that primarily in comparison to a show where these issues got dragged out even longer. The whole "one episode, one step forward" approach is definitely progress, but given how invested in this triangle I'm not it still feels really drawn out for me.

Sure, that's fair. I'm mostly enjoying how the show is pacing the 2008 romance (as opposed to the repetitiveness of the 1986 one), but it isn't leaving a lot of room for other stories. As long as the '08 romance is just a triangle, it's going to be tough to find roles for other characters. It's definitely a limitation of this approach.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The only thing I've really got to add about the episode proper this time is that I quite like the opening scene with Wataru stepping out in front of Shizuka to politely deal with his grouchy neighbors complaining about his music? It's the show rubbing in how much growth Wataru has had again, by giving him such a new reaction to such an old scenario, and it's appreciated. He's always got something new to worry about, so I feel this might be easy to forget, but the show has seriously allowed Wataru to make massive strides compared to where he used to be. That kind of first quarter era problem doesn't even crack a top ten list of things he's angsty over anymore.

(I also approve of Shizuka attempting to handle the problem by telling those people they simply must not appreciate quality music. It's totally unproductive, mind you! ...but I do have to respect her taking such a strong stance in the name of art.)

Yeah! This was a very cool callback. Nice to see Wataru stepping up, even if Shizuka feels even more unnecessary as a result. (She's remarkably genre savvy!)

The one thing that sort of cracked me up, though, was the specific complaint of the neighbors. They're complaining that the music is bad, which is something I don't the show's ever suggested? It sounds fine to me. Not really what I thought they'd be complaining about?

What they should be complaining about is Wataru playing a single minute-long piece of music for about nine straight months. Just... just play another song! ANY OTHER SONG! In his non-jerk days, Kengo had the presence of mind to practice his one song in an abandoned warehouse or an empty arboretum. It's maybe not your talent that's the problem, Wataru!