[DreamSword]

I knew you were going to love this one the moment that I saw it.

So it's probably of no surprise to anyone that I most certainly did not. What is it with Ryuki tributes and falling short with me, a guy who loves Ryuki?

The message in and of itself is fine. Certainly, we should all be willing to acknowledge that our dark sides are a part of us and learn to either work with or improve upon them. Running from it only makes it worse.

However. As a Ryuki tribute, as a character analysis of Sogo, and heck, as episodes of Zi-O? This two-parter to me just really feels as though it was blatantly written solely to appease those who didn't really like Ryuki and weren't jiving with Sogo and/or Zi-O, rather than being of its own merits.

Ore Journal going out of business? Felt like giving credence to those who called Ore Journal the worst part of Ryuki. The Ride Watch and Another Rider being totally different to how they worked in almost every other tribute? Felt like they were added to appease the people who kept complaining about the logistics of the previous arcs.

And finally, the darker aspects of Sogo discussed by his mirror self? Outside of the OOO tribute, felt very much like it was just thrown in to validate the viewers who decided to read into Sogo's' words and actions in as negative a light as possible. Can I believe that Sogo has a dark side? Absolutely; Oma Zi-O and Woz wouldn't exist otherwise. Do I believe that up to now it was properly given any sort of highlight? Absolutely not.

As such, to me, both of these episodes feel ultimately hollow. Know what doesn't feel hollow to me though? My favorite character from Ryuki.

Miyuki Tezuka, or as Die likes to call him, Kamen Rider Quarters!

And just like with Diend, I don't have to type anything new, because I already summed up my feelings on Raia during Die's' Decade thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

DREAMSWORD: Raia was definitely my favorite. In just a few episodes, he established himself as arguably the most important character of the entire story, and I feel that putting his arc towards the center of the show's run further emphasized just how much of the story was impacted over the decision he made to put the good of others over himself. He also did a great job at encapsulating one of the many messages of Ryuki: That we all have to forge our own paths in life, and our actions can and will make a great impact on those who care about us.