[Fish Sandwich]

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP39)

So uh, one last thought about Kabuto before I talk about this Den-O episode -- I find it hilarious that so many of us had grievances with how the arc handled Kagami's character, but not a single person until me right now even remotely questioned the idea that Yaguruma is still running around doing the exact same Life Is Pain emo shtick a decade and a half down the line from his show. I see how it is! When Kagami can't move past his issues, it's sad, but when Yaguruma can't do it, it's everything we want out of the guy! Well go ahead and laugh! We've got it good...

(Also, I only just went to check this, but Kagami bringing up the Hell Brothers name in 37 was actually the first time anybody in-fiction ever used it, so speaking of the fan-service getting away from the writer, it's really weird, in terms of the canon, for Kagami to act like anyone was calling them that all the time back in the day. Chalk it up to that messy space-time continuum, I guess.)

Anyways, Den-O episodes! Not really much to say that Die didn't already (this is a real fun time!), so I guess I'll just elaborate a bit on two points I made in my original post.

- I don't know if my hangup with Zeronos using Altair Form in stuff set after the series needs explaining to anyone who's seen Den-O, but without going into details, Yuuto's powers worked in a very specific way, and unless those rules got changed offscreen, my understanding was that he literally can't have access to those cards anymore. But you know, obviously on a meta level, it's even weirder for Zeronos to show up in stuff not looking like Zeronos, so I get it. I had also completely forgotten when I wrote that post that Altair Form showed up in Episode Red as well as Climax Deka, so it's not like the post-series Den-O movies were even as consistent about those rules as I make them out to be. Also, crucially, again, literally none of this matters to a fun episode of Zi-O where Yuuto and Deneb show up for comedy antics. And those antics, again, are a great time!

- Also worth noting is that, yeah, there was a week off for golf between this episode and the second part. Especially considering the DX Grand Zi-O Ride Watch was released to coincide with this first half airing, I'd imagine something about that is what motivated the somewhat unusual structure for a final form debut? Maybe? I might just be overthinking it, given Woz's established habit of reading too far ahead from that book of his.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

But like....gags aren't the only reason Den-O is such a beloved piece of work, yknow? There's a gentle sensitivity that lies in the show(mostly found in Ryotaro and certain MOTW stories) that elevates the work from a simple, fun comedy to something I can believe can make Den-O so widely loved by all.

Wow, I'm actually surprised to see someone besides me trying to make this case for once! I feel like it often goes understated just how much of an emotional range Den-O actually had as a show, and I definitely agree that's key to what gives these characters their immense staying power, even if people don't consciously think of it that way. It's kind of especially fascinating now that we have Zi-O, another Rider show that makes time a central concept, yet takes a completely different approach when it comes to the themes it uses that to explore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And I decided to steal another gimmick from Fish (I?m pretty much his Diend at this point)

Man, I'm Tendou and Tsukasa? And to think, I always had myself pegged as a Shinji!