[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

My only complaint is that I disapprove of Akira/Todoroki, since there was more connection between Shounen and Akira in the show.

The Todoroki/Akira stuff definitely felt shoe-horned in, a nod to all of the wacky Todoroki Is In Love plots. It's very weird here, because it's only a shortcut that gets us to Todoroki and Akira teaming up with Asumu, something they'd probably have done anyway, and Todoroki seems at least five years too old to have a crush on Akira. It's both unnecessary for the plot and creepy to watch. Not everything from Hibiki needed to get a callback!

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I think it's smart to have Wataru send Tsukasa on his journey and Otoya welcome him back, since Dark Kiva is the negative counterpart to Kiva. Maybe Otoya not being himself is the whole point, like the whole point of this world is that everything is familiar to Natsumi, yet the reality is twisted. Besides, the Wataru in the first episode isn't really Wataru either, so it's plausible that this Otoya isn't really Otoya, hence why he can use Dark Kiva without limits since it's implied that this world's Dark Riders are all monsters.

This was something I was thinking about last night, that it's meant to be a dark symmetry to the first episode, but I'm still not crazy about it. The premiere didn't have Wataru doing all of his Wataru stuff, and then they pulled the rug out from under you. It was pretty clear it was meant to be The Story Of Wataru that was giving Tsukasa the exposition. Here, it feels like the episode really wants you to think it's Otoya, and that didn't sit as right with me. Like I said, it seems like they wanted the shocking twist, and that's not as fun.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

TG Club could also be a parallel to Team Decade, as she was lost just like her friends before they found a place in the world with each other, allowing them to move forward. I think Natsumi's sentimental happiness is just pretty sweet, even if it does only get brought up here.

It feels like this is what the episode was setting up, that even outsiders can find a group that understands them, and how Team Decade is that for Tsukasa. Knowing that this was an Inoue episode, and one of his big things is arguing for your place in society rather than letting society dictate the terms of your involvement, I wouldn't be surprised if that's where the next part landed.

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Originally Posted by Enchilada645

That being said I do appreciate how calm this episode is despite the impending dread. There's a good sense of a calm before the storm here that I appreciated before the brawl at the end.

For sure. 20 wasn't my favorite, but it did get me pretty excited to see where this all goes. I wish it were paced differently (I'd've cut a third of Natsumi's flashbacks and given Onodera or Photo Studio Hayao Miyazaki a little scene or something), but it created an intriguing cliffhanger.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I also found it hilarious that Kaitou's impetus for getting involved is literally just hearing the word "treasure", which is about as... direct as you can possibly write him, and I find it just as funny in retrospect how I mentioned the Kuuga episodes not letting you into Tsukasa's head when Inoue lets us hear him thinking for the sake of spelling out his emotional turmoil upfront.

I'm connecting the dots between these Decade episodes and the eventual Movie War appearances by Diend, and I'm just assuming he gets driven mad by one too many metaphorical treasures. Learning lessons can be nice! But he's not a Lessons Hunter...