[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Speaking of bones of the story, I hope you enjoy the bare bones mechanics of how this story and the next half of the story works. I really hope you do. *ominous/joyous music depending, check back in several episodes*

I think it works pretty much the same as the first act's routine of exploring how Humagears interact with society? Maybe better? Previously, it was Aruto defending Hiden against vague market forces, and the whims of AIMS. Now, we're in a more contentious battle against ZAIA, and it's one with more explicit and immediate stakes. I liked it?

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Originally Posted by Nokination

First thread of yours I've caught, I myself don't really like Thouser's suit, but maybe that's just because I'm not a big fan of gold or silver, so it being a combination of both kinda puts it down a bit for me. The episode itself was quite good, and I really liked Aruto getting on Gai's nerves, before that brutal beatdown by Thouser.

Thanks for posting! I... yeah, garish suits like Thouser aren't usually my favorite (Ex-Aid Muteki is my least favorite suit on that show by a mile), but I love it for how well it communicates Gai's ego and absence of humility. That suit can only be worn by a guy who considers himself the king of the corporate world, you know?

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

Okay, the most I can say about the actual episode is that the reason the first competition is flower arranging is because the rpoducer?s mother is a florist and knows a few others.

That's neat!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

At this point, perhaps the stakes is still low for Gai being a smug prick, but still a reminder that Gai is the one who caused Ark to turn this way, he's responsible of all the Magias and MetsubouJinrai.net itself.

I mean, yeah, he's a guy who engineered several major disasters for his own benefit, but that's not this episode's story. This is just Gai being a self-involved asshole who needs to humiliate his former mentor's grandson. The stakes are just NOTICE ME GHOST SENPAI, and that's way more interesting to me.

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Originally Posted by TheRaizin

The original design of Thouser did not have a black face, the mask was all silver with blue eyes, but I think them changing it to black and purple helped give it its status as a villain rider, without making it look too evil.

Yeah, it does a great job of feeling like a corrupted hero design, rather than the obvious menace of Horobi, or even Jin. Thouser reads as a Rich Asshole, but still one who's likely to destroy monsters.

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Originally Posted by Kurona

"Not 1000%, though?" is maybe one of the funniest scenes in the entire franchise? It's SO good

It's definitely the funniest Aruto scene so far. He clearly relishes puncturing Gai's bubble of self-importance, and the ENORMOUS pause of Gai realizing he just got dunked on and having no response is perfect editing. They just let Aruto lay that comment down gently, and then refuse to overplay the punchline. Delicious.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

What makes the ZAIA SPEC sales percentage thing even better is that it's a product that just literally came out, meaning that it's only sold like 700-something units so far. That and who exactly ends up being able to buy said product are important details to my interpretation of Zero-One, I think.

Ha ha, yeah, it's a weirdly deployed statistic? I guess I'd assume that ZAIASPEC was maybe at the end of a long rollout, so there's at least one quarter to compare against.

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Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

Izu's joke? 5 stars, I can see a wonderful career in comedy for her.

It's so bad! And her delivery is so unfunny! But it's such a great moment.

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Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

Sakuyo...... Not particularly a favorite or anything, but she's real neat. The idea that witnessing/experiencing human malice firsthand might be the catalyst for the Ark's new method of creating Magia, is solid, and I honestly prefer a lot more than just sticking a Zetsumeriser onto a Humagear/suddenly hacking into them. "Our ideology will continue to spread", indeed.

I like it a lot better because it's a choice the affected Humagear is making, rather than them being the victim of Horobi's malevolence or whatever. There's more weight behind Aruto reaching out to a deranged Humagear now, when there's a hope that they can be redeemed.