[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

The fact that the show held off on Ren and Shinji's reunion so long, and then made it so short, also felt like a massive misjudgment.

This is the part that bugged me the most. The actors can still make this insane relationship make sense, but the series goes for this Two Riders In The Night nonsense, where they still can't have a moment for their friendship. If anything, the ending would've hit even harder if we'd had two full episodes of Ren and Shinji's friendship, and THEN Ren sacrifices himself so Shinji can return to the world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

If only Zi-O could find a way to take a show's original characters and use them in a manner that felt organic, true to the show's spirit, and like it really built off of the original story. That's something I would be much happier to Turn Up for.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

To be honest, the comparison Die drew to Amazons talking about the second episode really rubbed me the wrong way, even. Both seasons of that show, and to an extent, even the movie I know Die doesn't like, I can say without hesitation that they all gave me something to think about after. Three times in a row, I went in skeptical of the kind of edgy story they were trying to tell, and came out by the end feeling like there was some legitimate point or another being made, or an idea being explored in an interesting way. As sad as it is to say, I've just never felt the same way about this mini-series.

I feel like my amount of distaste for Amazons might've been overstated? Or I might've used a comparison to Amazons in conjunction with something that eventually bore a much greater amount of vitriol?

I actually really like the first season of Amazons. Like, TAKAYAMA JIN. Maybe my favorite Secondary Rider of all time? I love that dude's arc in Season 1, and the actor is impossibly magnetic. And, yeah, I also found the show itself to be pretty fun. It was the second Kamen Rider thing I ever watched, after Ex-Aid, so I'm sure I'd find a lot more of value in it if I watched it today.

The second season... eh, I didn't love the back half.

That movie actually ruined my Christmas.

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Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

I get that the cast has amnesia, so maybe they wanted to try doing the characters from different angles, but to rather poor degree as they end up remembering anyway, which only leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It also clearly doesn't work as Shinji is still very much the same personality-wise, including a few of the others.

It's like a lot of things in this series, where you can squint to see what the production team might be going for -- how immutable some of these relationships are, how some people can be trapped in recurring destructive cycles, while other people fight for change -- until you remember how haphazardly the series sticks to its decisions. Everyone Has Amnesia Except For Asakura And Goto is a phenomenally stupid baseline for a story, especially when you never clarify why some people remember the Rider War and some don't.