[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

The Kiva episodes would have been my choice if we?d done the ?TN Watches? format for Zi-O.

It was my third choice as well. Nice to see so many people in this thread speak so highly about it, since I recall it was pretty disliked when it first aired. Inoue really put his all in to this arc for sure!

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 36 - ?2019 - FIRST LOVE, FINALLY!?

Like, it?s a Kiva story, so it?s about Love. Sougo?s experience of love isn?t really a reciprocal one, because this isn?t that story. This one?s about him getting to feel heartbreak, to know that it can happen, and then learning that it?s not the end of his capacity for love. First heartbreak? man, that?s what it feels like! It feels like everything in you that can have faith and love in another person is wrung out, obliterated. But, you know, it isn?t. It could take a minute, or a month, or a year, or a decade. But it isn?t ever really the end of love, because that?s not how love works. It just comes back, blooming, renewed.

Sougo's really grown a lot here, as we see him at his highest and lowest point. He (Woz Ginga) Finally got to experience a new first love as an adult, as well as his first heartbreak. Unlike Wataru though, he can't even throw a heartbreak party for himself, since his crush is also dead. Tragically, it was a doomed relationship from the start, since Sougo's faith in her innocence was misplaced, unusual for someone so skilled at analyzing people, but love can make us biased in our judgment. Even so, there is a glimpse at a small amount of goodness inside her, which is the part that Sougo mourns. Yuko never repented for her crimes, so she isn't redeemed, but I can understand why Sougo would still feel saddened about losing her.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yuko?s character wasn?t the point of Sougo?s story, but she was still an amazing one. A character who can justify any action by it being what they felt like at that moment? Boy, that gives you a lot of options as a storyteller. She can leave people to die, save them later, try to kill Sougo, die proclaiming his heroism, and it all plays as one person?s psychology. Nothing she did across this two episode stretch felt out of character or poorly motivated. It?s just, like, that?s Yuko. She?s a crazy lady who does whatever makes her happy. That?s pretty interesting to watch!

Kitajima Yuko, Another Manhole Kiva, is totally an awesome villain and the most memorable Another Rider! Actually, her manhole gimmick was so popular that it spawned the show's second greatest meme after IWAE, where circular objects are replaced with manholes. For example:

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Less interesting was all of the Kamen Rider Ginga stuff, which: hoo boy. Dumbest subplot ever for an Inoue story? Maybe! Ginga falls out of the sky, goes on a rampage, and then gets detonated by Woz, resulting in a new powerup. It?s insultingly stupid, without even the Eff The Fans charm of someone just whipping the Ginga Miridewatch at Woz?z head. Ginga?s motivation is nowhere. Even as an entropy enthusiast, he just sort of wanders around, randomly blowing up causeways. His participation in this story is completely incoherent.

From what I understand, Ginga isn't that complex as a character since he's merely a personification of cosmic law, who came to destroy the world due to all the recent paradoxes warping reality. This can be seen in his fighting style, where his body seems to move on its own in response to attacks. So Jirou was pretty much right about him.

Unlike the other Miriders, he's not portrayed by a former Sentai actor (other than minor roles as MOTWs), but rather a future Sentai actor, since Sugita Tomokazu later voiced King Oradin from Kiramager.

I also recall the Ginga suit was originally mistaken for an April Fools joke, until it turned out to be real. Can anybody confirm this?

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

And finally, Tv-Nihon.

It wasn't that long ago that I rewatched TV-N's sub of Kiva and I'm pretty sure they never spelled Kivat as "Kivatte" before. How inconsistent!