[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 28 - ?OUR GOAL 2019?

A lot of that is just? it?s two really fun actors? Geiz?z almost performative frostiness, obscuring a lonely boy?s need for friendship. Sougo?s loudly-stated need for friendship, clearly communicated and now thoroughly unstoppable. It?s massively vulnerable, and both actors nail the strange mix of emotions that need to stabilize into something warm and sustainable.

And this is the part where Sougo and Geiz officially become friends! When Geiz is confronted with that statement, he immediately overcompensates by repeating his pre-development lines, like how Zi-O is his sworn enemy who must be destroyed, etc. But Sougo's anger and honesty finally gets through to him, by taking Uncle Tokiwa's advice. Geiz realizes that he and Sougo can still be friends, even if they're forced to fight each other. And yeah, I've had very little to say about Hiryu as Another Zi-O, but he's a great obstacle to symbolize them finally working together as friends against a shallow person who rejects both of their principles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The other drawback is more slight, but I found the resolution to Tsukuyomi?s crisis of faith to be hilariously obtuse, with her basically saying that they should believe in Sougo because the Time Jackers might be up to something. This is? this is not new information! The Time Jackers have been up to something since literally the first episode!

Yeah, the contrived resolution to Tsukuyomi's arc was a real blunder. I was willing to see where it would go, but she basically ends up in the same place where she started. What was the point?! It doesn't even address the problem with her fragile faith in Sougo, since the revelation only concerns Sougo's backstory, nothing that actually suggests anything about his morality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

My favorite nonsensical part to Swartz'z reveal is that THIS ONE TIME he changed his outfit when he tried to meddle with history, because the show had already established that Sougo's dream had a guy in a hat telling him he'd become king. Every other time we see Swartz, purple sleeveless coat. This one time, when he's going to kill all the witnesses anyway, he goes in a disguise. What?

No, this actually makes sense. The Swartz on the bus was his past self, so he doesn't have his purple coat yet at that point. Same reason why he didn't recognize Tsukuyomi. It also means Tsukuyomi and Swartz are part of a causal loop that directly influenced Sougo's and Hiryu's childhood. Surprisingly, there's still one more thing about this bus incident that you haven't seen yet, so I'll leave it here for now.

Anyway, I haven't been rewatching along with this thread like I did for Faiz, Hibiki, Kiva and Decade. But since I recently finished the Heisei Era with Blade, I think rewatching the next arc will give me a new perspective. So this is going to be a new experience for both of us!