[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I mean, they want the same thing (defeating the Bugsters) for massively different reasons. The goal is the same, it's just the motivations that are different. There are a couple of storylines explicitly about whether their motivations can be met with a different goal, sure, but Curing The Bugster Virus is a pretty locked-in goal for the four main Riders for the duration of the show.

This seems to be just different definitions we catch... I use the defeating the Bugsters as their methods and motivation as their actual characterization and to explain regarding what they want... and I use 'goal' as in what those characters want in life and try to reach. Unless you refer goal here as in, completed objective in their methods (their methods is fighting off Bugster, they reach the goal when the Bugster has been defeated).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 5 - ?SWITCH ON! 2011?

The Fourze stuff in here was? whatever. It?s one of those thematic tie-ins where it?s mostly just someone saying a keyword again and again, and hoping that makes it seem like the story?s about more than plot. Because it?s a Fourze tribute, expect to hear Sougo say Friendship like it?s a replacement for Henshin.

I think I appreciate that you back up your gripe here with some solution that you think is better here (as well as the pun there, b̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶e̶d̶y̶ ̶m̶a̶t̶e̶r̶i̶a̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶ ̶n̶e̶x̶t̶ ̶s̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶), but regarding Tsukuyomi not hanging out with him and laugh.... could it be that she's just a more calm, collected, serious, and reserved type of person? There are varying types of people and their temperament (moreover can look at how she interacts with Geiz too if Sougo isn't an actual friend to you). Though still, the only one that bears any form of hatred here is Geiz towards Sougo (though he can be a tsundere), while Sougo won't despise Geiz or Tsukuyomi, and Tsukuyomi doesn't despise Sougo either (her smiling at Sougo changing isn't necessarily an indicator of lowered hate, in general growing closer isn't, smile can just happen if a situation is good). Geiz and Tsukuyomi are real partners.

Otherwise, for now though Geiz is the one that hates Sougo, the actual problem in the main team for now is Woz that both Geiz and Tsukuyomi tells Sougo to not trust him. Now by that Sougo is put in a situation where he had to become a villain's pawn but not doing that would not have any way to advance forward. Sougo can be frequently stupid but for this one... can't blame him or anyone for progressing even by trusting a manipulator's words, because the alternative would be having no more moves (of which is shown in a series that can't be talked about yet here). Woz is also a damn badass though, he's not Ohma Zi-O's prophet for nothing, that he can block Another Fourze's punch in his human form and then throw fireball at him. Speaking of badass Sougo did it again with a successful plan to distract the nurses by having him fall on stairs so those 2 can check up the student's data. Sougo isn't being merely useful to teach Geiz and Tsukyomi how to be teenagers!

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It doesn?t help that this episode really leaned into some unnecessary tribute stuff. It highlights the compromises this show?s going to have to make, as we move away from the actors that basically were just on their shows.

This is Zi-O's problem. It sometimes can't decide that it wants to be a tribute to previous Rider shows or be its own show. This is similar to Decade previously as well (forgot to ask that for Zi-O you didn't pull watch together like you did with Decade?), and Decade also didn't always feature the main protagonists of the previous serieses, or even just had outright different incarnation of those characters. You think here the explanation is the people graduating, but for that, I don't think that the Ex-Aid and Build story before had the characters being that ahead in their timeline story too, at least for Build, ahead of for example the Heisei Generations timeline where Banjou was still selfish.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

My favorite part, though, is how smart it is to layer a Faiz story over a Fourze story. First of all, to go from Fourze to 555? man, that?s a funny gag. But to then look at a Fourze story, tease Ryusei, and then remind people that Kamen Rider Meteor was actually the second Ryusei in Heisei? After the Ryusei School (?Go Meteors!), home of so many mutant dinks on Kamen Rider Faiz? I LOVE IT. It?s the best, smartest connection. It?s a total deep cut that?s been sitting there for seven years, waiting for a writer brave enough to tie together the Friendship Show and the Definitely Not Friendship Show.

True, it's a nice gag for going from Fourze to Faiz. 4 (theme) to 5 (theme). When coincidences are taken into account it's good stuff too, like said Ryusei being not the first in the franchise (or the many Kusakas in Faiz). I also like it if the actors from older series can return. I mean like, people like Emu or Sento can be expected to quickly return as they're from more recent series, but actors from much older series like Kento Handa (Takumi) and Kohei,̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶K̶y̶o̶j̶i̶ Murakami (Kusaka) as there are no guarantees of those being available to return and that a number of actors have retired too. The Faizing also means they handle the characters not badly here, but don't want for everyone else to be turned like Kusaka here too (for the talk of prefering the main trio to be lunatic teenagers or such).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I mean, Sougo's a sweet kid -- Kamen Rider Puppy Dog -- but I feel like he'd be a terrible friend if you were a teenager? Like, we've seen him try and hang with one kid his age who wasn't a Time Orphan, and he immediately made things weird by drafting that kid into his Good Empire. Like, it took maybe seven seconds for Sougo to steer things towards his troubling/adorable obsession. That can't be fun to be around? If you couldn't order a pizza without your friend talking about which toppings would be the official ones for his realm, you'd probably stop hanging out with him.

Sougo may be really weird like that as his friend (forgot the name, haven't found it yet) can attest but I think Sougo would be a good friend at least at hard times. He's a sweet kid thus he'd more likely to help you or at least try (not trying to make it worse like berating them for it) when you need it. Provided that Sougo knows enough about your problems at least (like him getting explanation of what Geiz went through). The part you talked here about ordering pizza doesn't sound like a bad situation but about settling differences and that you gotta be able to and in civil way. It'd be better rather than being with a hostile asshole sorry, but specifically when they're a popular one, of which being the life of a party (at expense of others too by that) can make them popular regardless if those can be two-faced or such and thus they can get free pass while harming others or such.