[Kamen Rider Die]

I've missed talking to you folks about Kamen Rider!

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Originally Posted by TheRaizin

Second, Shotaro. I liked him going Joker first and facing off against BLACK/RX, I think that was a cool fight. It reminded me of what could've been had Double's final episode not happen. Just Shotaro being alone as Kamen Rider Joker.

Shotaro's last appearance, if memory serves. He's typically great in this. He's maybe my favorite Phase 2 Legend Rider guy, for how he always elevates any story he shows up for.

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Originally Posted by Kurona

I actually really really liked the Takumi-feels-guilty-over-Kusaka stuff in this movie? It might not do the best job of selling the idea of Takumi being guilty over it, but... well, survivor's guilt is a thing! I 100% believe that even in the most positive ending of 555 where he's surrounded by friends, eventually a few years down the line as he just continued living life, those thoughts would enter his head. Getting away from someone like that is extremely difficult -- and that was always Kusaka's whole thing! He is a colossally, irrefutably awful person who still manages to get in your head, still manages to fill you with doubt. And I don't like the idea that this is what would immediately happen after 555 or even a year after, like a V-Cin or something; but as you said this is more than ten years later, so I'm able to buy into this a lot more! I think it's a very well rounded arc for him and that his stuff with Keisuke actually had me thinking at one point that I would absolutely love this if it was just some random 555/X crossover that happened to come out around now. Seeing Kusaka explode into dust two new times is the icing on top of that cake!

You make some good points! I am always ready for someone to tell me Faiz is better than I think it is.

Like I said, I think the broad strokes of the story are right for Takumi's character (he will inevitably close himself off and think he doesn't deserve happiness!), but I feel like... like there's a story here about Takumi just looking for an excuse not to believe in himself, and the current excuse is Kusaka, but the movie's like No He Really Regrets Kusaka's Death. Like, I think the story Inoue would've told with these pieces would've landed on Takumi's general lack of self-confidence, rather than some real guilt over Kusaka decorating a beach.

However!

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Originally Posted by FreshToku

I liked the little 555 bits okay, though I think what would have at least been a better angle is if Takumi's survivor's guilt was for Kiba rather than Kusaka, though there's multiple reasons why that couldn't have happened.

As much as I joked about how funny it is that the worst person in the cast is who Takumi is obsessed with... that's almost the point? The point isn't that Takumi bears responsibility, or that there's an absence in Takumi's life he can't get over. (Takumi would be good with Kusaka coming back and then running away forever!) It's that even Kusaka deserves to live more than Takumi, according to Takumi. The point is that Kusaka somehow clears a bar that Takumi can't clear for himself. The story's way flatter if he's pining for Horsepower.

And, again, I'm just seeing the whole Kusaka thing as another weird Takumi deflection. Living is hard. Believing in himself is hard. Without the constant, unceasing support of Mari and Keitaro, Takumi will probably devolve into a guy who stares longingly at a belt he doesn't feel he deserves. Easier to construct a narrative where Kusaka can live his life for him.

Yeah, boy, I'm sort of coming around on this Takumi arc? Can't ever count out Faiz!

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

It also gave us the Haruto cameo, which I love because a) Haruto and 2) it does a much better job than normal of selling the idea that these are all the actual Riders, even though very few of them are ever out of suit.

Haruto being here, if anything, proves the Showa guys right about the Heisei kids! Haruto constantly has to give other Riders pep talks and tell them not to wallow in their sadness!

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

Kusaka trolling Takumi from beyond the grave 100% fits him

It's maybe the best decision this movie made - having Kusaka still be a smirking psychopath, even as Takumi is trying to resurrect him - but it's one that was baffling to me when I was watching Gaim. I could not figure out why Takumi was feeling so guilty about one of his rivals, one who clearly did not mellow in the afterlife. I get it, now! THEY'RE BOTH INOUE CHARACTERS!

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Originally Posted by GrandComplete

My biggest issue is that they keep repeating thst Showa and Heisei can't mixed when like that ignores the last 5 years worth of crossovers where that same thing decrying happens. And even after this movie ignores and have Showa and Heisei work together. The worst part is that most of these were made by Shirakura and Yonemura.

Okay Boomer Taisen!

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Originally Posted by Frontier

Also, Faiz was my first Rider, he's my favorite Rider...but did they really need to retcon how Kusaka died?

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Originally Posted by Kurona

I always felt it was just how Takumi himself was remembering it. It's all purely from his perspective and his point of view the way it's presented in the scene rather than an 'objective' flashback, so it's more about what he's focusing on personally

That's how I took it. Some of it is that it's easier to communicate to an audience why Takumi might feel guilty if they can show Faiz and Kaixa in one shot, but a lot of it is Takumi putting himself at the moment of Kusaka's demise so he can feel worse about it. He's torturing himself over something he had nothing to do with, because: Takumi!

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Originally Posted by catwhowalks

The reason why the ending with the final fight between the Showa and Heisei guys is the way it is was because the movie doesn't actually have a firm ending. They filmed two endings to the fight, one where Showa wins and one where Hesei wins and put it up to an audience vote as to which to would show. The other ending is included with some fan translations. So there isn't really a set ending that they planned. It was all a popularity contest and not a properly written story element that mattered in the slightest.

Still, it would've been nice if they'd come up with something other than a reversal of their reversal. There's probably some other reason a bunch of dudes could've fought. I'd've even preferred a stakes-free battle of egos between Ichigo and Decade!