[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

I like the idea that the show dances around a bit of what it means to have a world without any Kamen Riders, but it doesn't really feel like that ever gels into anything. Natsumi angsts over Tsukasa not have a place to belong, which is good, and Narutaki rants about Decade being a corrupting force, which is just more baseless drivel from him at this point. There is a bit of a nice resolution with Natsumi declaring that Tsukasa's home is with the studio, but that plot still feels relatively undercooked.

I pretty much had the opposite experience? I was not really feeling Natsumi's plot in the first couple scenes, but her mounting frustration with YET ANOTHER GROUP OF HEROES angrily demanding Tsukasa stop doing the villainous standing around he's doing, that devil, and just leave already... that sounded about right to me? Narutaki's blame-gaming is even more untethered from facts than usual, and a bunch of judgemental samurai are now berating Tsukasa, and it's all happening in a world where Tsukasa is even more superfluous than usual. Like, the Natsumi thing really landed for me. I felt like it wasn't trying to do more than spotlight the sort of protective, sisterly vibe she had with Tsukasa in the early days of the show, and how that part didn't get obliterated by nightmares of a Rider War. Worked for me!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

There are ego characters who'd want to be the only one for Riders.. and here Tsukasa's ego is due to the Riders not being there. So Tsukasa's ego is requiring other Riders to make himself look like the best Rider among them?

I don't know if I'd phrase it that way? I don't think it's egotism that's driving Tsukasa at this point in the show, it's that being Kamen Rider Decade is something that's permanent for him now. It's... it's like his home? It's something that gives him value, makes him feel validated by the universe. So facing the possibility that the universe itself doesn't need Riders is probably pretty terrifying for him! Some of his arc in these episodes is finding value in the other parts of his life, like his relationships.

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Originally Posted by Sunred

Funny enough Chiaki/Shinken Green and Kotoha/Shinken Yellow are the only teenagers with attitude during the show. Chiaki was a senior at high school at the start of the show while they never explained if Kotoha even went to one(home schooling maybe?) cause the focus on Kotoha was more about her substituting for her sickly older sister and her family is involved in crafting with bamboo. The rest of the four were grown-ups with attitude.

but they did have attitude

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Originally Posted by Kurona

I remember really liking this one! I won't deny the flaws of it not selling Shinkenger well, but... heck, honestly I was just having fun! I liked Takeru and Tsuskasa's little stare-down, I liked the visual of Kuuga helping out a great Sentai team... when I eventually watched Shinkenger I ended up watching these two episodes alongside it where they would have gone and just had a great time. I guess I just fail to not enjoy myself with Decade!

I think even the folks who didn't love this episode managed to have fun with it. I'd be hard-pressed to find legitimate flaws, and the clever moments far outweighed any minor quibbles. Like, this one got me onboard with Narutaki. That is some hall-of-fame storytelling, right there!

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I really the love the development that Tsukasa/Natsumikan gets in this arc and just to see Natsumi get some focus in general. Even if everybody else is saying Tsukasa is a devil who only brings ruin, Natsumi cares about him and thinks he deserves to have a place where he can belong. She believes that he's a good person. That's enough. As long as they're travelling together, that place can be the Hikari Studio, since that's where everybody will always give him a warm welcome and cookies (Eijirou is an artist!) to show how much they appreciate him. It's sweet that she wants him to feel at home with them.

Yeah, it's a good one for Natsumi. I like that her decision to be there for her friend is something she comes to on her own? It's a little thing, but I like that it's not Tsukasa who has to reach out and make Natsumi feel better. It's Natsumi who has to figure out how to give Tsukasa the necessary emotional support that he would never in a million years ask for. It levels the playing field a bit, makes Team Decade feel a little more equal.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

These episodes are fantastic.

These episodes manage to hit the drama, the action and the humor in roughly the same amounts, which is incredibly hard to do. There's this sweetly sad story about Tsukasa getting heckled and harrassed, eternally, while Natsumi is furious on his behalf; there's this rollicking adventure of Monster Diend taking on a full Sentai team, a Kuuga, and Decade; and there's this goofy joke of a thread about Kaitou being an unrepentant criminal, even if it makes everyone want to kill Tsukasa. Just, man, everything you'd want in a tokusatsu story!

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Originally Posted by GuardianAngel87

These particular episodes are my first exposure to Decade. I watched them mainly for seeing how Genta gets his squid origami back and for something different due to watching Shinkenger (which personally I find to be pretty decent but vastly overrated) at the time which in turn along with the first two Super Hero Taisen movies I watched sometime later got me to really get into the world(s) of Kamen Rider for the first time and had been slowly but surely getting into the franchise.

Oh, neat! I can see how these'd help kickstart a Kamen Rider fandom.