[Fish Sandwich]

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP06)


I really really loved this one at the time, and I suspect I still would on a rewatch. I can sort of see where your gripes are coming from, Die, but I don't know, I thought there were way too many legitimately clever things about how this two-parter was plotted to find myself getting hung up on that stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The idea of a story built around sacrifice ? that it?s easier to die for someone than live for yourself ? is something that feels more indebted to the Ryusei School dinks and their mascot, Delta, than it really does for either Takumi or Kusaka. It?s not really how I remember either of them? Kusaka dies from his sacrifice, sure, but it wasn?t exactly a series-long motivation. And Takumi? Jesus, it took Takumi most of a season to even fight for people, let alone care enough to sacrifice for them. (I mean, there?s the iconic If Fighting Is A Sin, Then LET ME BE DAMNED speech, but I always took that as more about society?s judgment than, like, death.)

I don't think it's that much of a stretch for Takumi, honestly? (Especially assuming "sacrifice" is about more than just literally dying for somebody.) The entire core of his character from the outset of Faiz is that he's scared of getting close to people because he thinks he'll hurt them. He has immense trouble seeing his own worth as a person, so he's resigned himself to wasting away his life being a surly loner who actively tries to avoid making connections entirely, because he honestly thinks that's the best he can do for the world. He's also legitimately a surly grump either way, sure, but if anything, Takkun's biggest issue is often that he cares too much. That speech from him you're mentioning, I don't think it's about either of those things. That was him finding the will to continue fighting, despite his own personal feelings about it, all because he decided other people have to come first. And you know, you say "most of a season", but he was officially fighting for other people's dreams before the episode count even hit the double digits.

I'm not sure how relevant any of this is to how much this Zi-O episode does or does not land its thematic connections for you, but, like, as a fellow Faiz fan, I felt the need to speak up on this. Of course, with how wonderfully complex and depthful the cast of Faiz is, I suppose there's always room for a wide range of equally valid interpretations of Inoue's masterfully written characters!

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP07)

I remember utterly adoring the atmosphere of this one is pretty much exactly the same way I adore Wizard's. It's laid-back in a way that lets you really soak in each moment, and while in my post at the time, I said I didn't feel like much significant actually happened, skimming back through it, it feels like it's moving more pieces of the story along in a meaningful way than I remember? Of course, back then, I hadn't seen the second half of the two-parter...