[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

I do gotta say, for a series I have made my dislike for clear... I did super like this ending and felt it was a perfect last 60 seconds. Just the best possible way you could bring together the generational themes with a dash of Inoue bonkers-ness

There's a real Here We Go Again comedy beat to it, that... I just love how Inoue's going to make time in the final moments of his entire series for some weirdo riff on Back to the Future. Super on-point, and completely hysterical.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

You say the Ixa glove bit doesn't add any further depth to Wataru and Otoya's relationship, for example, but I don't think it needs to. It's the same thing as RabbitDragon in Build – a summation of all that you've seen over the course of the story. Just like the core of that show was how a genius physicist and a meathead fighter were always the Best Match, Kiva beautifully encapsulates how the bond between a father and son transcends time by demonstrating that Otoya will always be there to lend Wataru a hand, literally, even if he's only there in spirit.

Yeah, I'm not really mad at it. (I really respect how the show actually set it up, by showing that glove floating in the lake during Otoya's fight with King? For a series that seemed way too willing to retcon ever-more-unbelievable plot twists, I like how planned out this twist was.) It's really more that... like, the show pretty much ended the Otoya/Wataru story a couple episodes earlier, so bringing it up again here felt a little tacked-on. Not unwelcome, exactly, but sort of distracting for how it wasn't really what the episode was about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

There are things about it I love conceptually for sure, but my most vivid memory of those scenes, my most visceral reaction, was how thoroughly baffled I felt when Maya told her sons to beat each other up so they could "feel each other's souls". In the moment, it was simply because I thought it sort of unnecessarily undercut the fact that they just reconciled, but in retrospect, it's like... what the heck were you thinking writing that, Inoue-san!? What kind of a message is that to send to the kids watching these shows!? And then the fighting isn't even choreographed like casual roughhousing; Taiga and Wataru are kicking the s*** out of each other there! There have to be healthier ways to vent these emotions, guys!

It's maybe the best thing in the episode, for WTF entertainment value alone. It's so tone-deaf and inappropriate (those two actors are working stiff, to put it in wrestling terms) that it's sort of incredible. The cut to Maya's maternal pride as her two sons are punching each other in the face! Amazing. Terrible, indefensible storytelling that is also the thing I enjoyed the most in the finale.