[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 48 - “FINALE: THE INHERITORS OF KIVA”

There’s nominally stuff about the value of family, how family members support each other. It’s a little facile, compared to some of the thorny elements Inoue’s played with before on this series. Here, it’s Otoya’s IXA gauntlet from 1986 catching Wataru when he falls. It’s a cute shot, but it’s not really an evolution of where things were left with the two of them. It’s a callback, or a nod towards character growth, but it doesn’t add a period at the end of the sentence for Wataru and Otoya. Wataru wasn't feeling disconnected from Otoya, so having his dad support him is just an Oh Thanks moment, rather than something pivotal to Wataru's character. It’s cute, but not anything that feels profound at all.

Of course Wataru wouldn't feel disconnected from Otoya, especially after the shit they go through in few previous episodes. It was about how Wataru reaffirm is connection with his father, after a period where Wataru feels disappointed by his father's sins. But of course, Otoya has long gone, and is parted away from Wataru for eternity now. But the IXA gauntlet possibly means for how Otoya's always on Wataru's side even when his self is long gone I think, the cheesy line that happens in some media that "I'll be always on your side" after a loved one's death, not about Wataru or the relationship's evolution. For the final fight, Bishop's loyalty to the law is further shown that he won't rule over the Fangire by himself, but instead revives the King in 1986 to settle things, albeit the King is turned into mindless zombie. Feels like Bishop has the most control regarding the Fangire instead of the King or Queen, killing 'traitorous' Queen and decides who he feels is worthy to be a King. The idea of Kiva Emperor and Dark Kiva's finisher is quite neat at the end for Dark Kiva to use a finisher resembling Saga, so that King isn't immediately killed for Kiva Emperor to perform his Emperor Moon Break, albeit I'd wish the kick would portray the bashing with the claws on Kiva's legs like how it's originally portrayed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The bigger examination of how family supports each other is in Wataru’s ridiculous plan to save Taiga by stealing his throne and goading him into a fight. I couldn’t even begin to tell you why this seemed kind to Wataru. It’s kindness from the Shima school of caring for people, where it mostly serves to put Taiga into a bloodthirsty rage. Luckily, as soon as Wataru reveals his plan (with Shima there, because god forbid this show not have Shima in a big emotional moment), Taiga immediately and entirely regrets everything he’s done to date, and gratefully accepts Wataru’s love.

For you to think this doesn't seem kind of Wataru, I also felt the same for certain scene before in ep. 40, Wataru putting dangerous stuff for people who interferes at his shut in phase like his friends? He wants to prevent himself hurting others by being a shut in, yet is hurting others himself using the harmful traps...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Like… do you know how badly I want to like this scene? This is a character defusing an adversary by hugging them and telling them they are loved. I adore that shit. That is one of my favorite Kamen Rider moves of all time. That is my Rider Kick; the Rider Hug. But this feels insanely rushed, with Taiga doing a complete 180 in about forty words, and Wataru tightening the screws and acting like an asshole for very little reason. It’s nuts. There’s a lot to like about Wataru trying to save his brother from hardship, but… no. It’s a plan that pushes Taiga to almost kill his mother (oh, Taiga also didn’t kill her, in a scene that made me laugh pretty hard) and almost kill his brother, and it only succeeds because Taiga suddenly sees Wataru’s rivalry as something Wataru is doing to help him. It’s like Taiga got hit on the head with a coconut, and all of a sudden he’s like I Don’t Need Power If I Have My Brother. You’ve got to work way harder for that twist to work, and this episode just doesn’t put in the time.

I think the one that confuses me more is about how Taiga trying to settle things with Wataru after Bishop clarifies that he's the one who actually killed Mio, that seems to be a real path for redemption between Wataru and Taiga after Taiga swore vengeance on Wataru. Though Taiga's main thing is always to benefit Fangire race and thus, his King position is the one thing that he cherishes the most, everything he did, is part of his King position, to romance and marry Mio (albeit Taiga at least views her as person), etc. By that Taiga thinks Wataru is taking away the very thing that defines him, which is his position as a King and his obligation to benefit Fangires out of spite, and I guess Wataru and Shima, execution aside especially for the latter, clears up the misunderstanding of that, informing Taiga that he takes the position as a King for Taiga's own good, and that Taiga still has the obligation to benefit Fangires by Wataru's words that Taiga's a real king.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Of a thousand things I’d’ve guessed this episode would end with, the wedding of Megumi and Nago wouldn’t have been one of them. But it’s here, and it’s the best. All of the Nago and Megumi stuff in this episode is fantastic, and I almost can’t believe it. This is the finale of Kamen Rider Kiva, and Wataru’s story in it is the B-plot I won’t remember in a couple weeks. (That’s not true. I will always remember Maya’s look of happiness as her two sons just start beating the holy hell out of each other in front of her. That was, by far, the funniest thing in this entire series. They are brutally fighting out of love!) The little story they told about Nago and Megumi is the one that worked for me.

Though after that, after Taiga redeemed, the real final fight in the story was Kiva Emperor vs Dark Kiva, and it's done for meta reasons, because both Riders are broken thus the series pit the most broken Rider there with another one. It being "fighting for love"... the fight also reminds me of Drive's finale where Shinnosuke and Heart settle things out after they become allies. I don't know about the message part of Maya thinking that fighting can make understandings between one's soul can likely be misused, though it can also make sense in certain aspect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Them two always had great chemistry. First as workplace rivals, then as workplace friends, and now as romantic partners. It’s not a huge story, and it doesn’t have a bunch of twists, but that’s why I liked it. While the Wataru/Taiga story is tying itself in knots and speeding through character developments, the Nago/Megumi story has a training montage, because the episode wants you to feel the time they’re putting in. It’s dead simple, this plot. Nago needs someone to help him, and Megumi respects him enough to not let him give up. It’s just support, and being there for someone when they fall. It’s like an origin story for their love, which is why I’ll remember it more than Taiga lying about killing his mother or Wataru making his Three Weird Uncles think he’s a dick. Megumi and Nago had a year-long story that ended in a wedding, and that’s maybe what I wanted out of Kamen Rider Kiva after all.

Well, I think the Nago and Megumi stuff here is still similar as before, with Nago staying as IXA instead of Megumi, and Megumi instead puts both into harder job (at least before Nago recovers) by coaching him in the fight... I wonder what would you think as difference here compared to the previous episode one? After Megumi's focus dipped, that's the last second of giving her prominence, but not as IXA. This part can be something that doesn't sit right with some, and consider another sexism in Kiva to prevent the idea of a woman being a permanent Kamen Rider. This also can be something that gives the impression of how women are meant to marry and give kids, though I'd likely also try to use your explanation here for better understanding, or a mistake in action stuff to just pair 2 person because one of them is male and the other is female. Otherwise, Wataru's future son, Masao, is portrayed by Otoya's actor Kouhei Takeda too.