[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by TF RyuShin

I can continue this all day long but Takahashi did make a good step in this one. I don't think Yua's redemption would make such a big impact had it not been because Gai harmed Fuwa and Fuwa's declaration of his new dream was enriched after Yua took the action. Say that Aruto was the victim of Gai, instead of Fuwa, I don't think the impact result would be as good as if Fuwa was the one who Gai had machinated.

Yeah, I think this episode did a good job of reframing Yua and Fuwa as a partnership, even if they've been on opposite sides of the issue for a while. (The show also put in the very clear parallel of Love-chan and his student, whose partnership was constantly dissolving and reuniting, until they figured out a way to respect each other's goals.) There's no shortage of scenes this time with only Fuwa and Yua, at all levels of energy. There's a real feeling of them getting over their animosity/misunderstanding, and dedicating their energy towards helping their partner succeed.

It definitely wouldn't've worked with Aruto and Yua, though, no. This isn't Ex-Aid, where you can mix up the pairings to try and say something about aligned goals; this is a show about how two people collaborate on a shared vision of the future, so it's gotta be Fuwa and Yua.

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Originally Posted by Kurona

Couldn't get into this episode. I really just couldn't; I got what they were going for but it feels very out of nowhere and by now they'd burned all the good will I had towards this character. And heck, they couldn't even have the girl get her own battle without one of the guys' new upgrades stealing half of it. Just a kind of okay resolution to a very empty story

You're not wrong! Like I said before, the success (to me) of this episode definitely doesn't negate a dozen episodes that would've been better served slowly teasing out Yua's subplot, rather than having her as some barely-defined lieutenant right up until her spotlight episode. Not the best pacing!

I don't know if I totally agree with Vulcan stealing part of her battle spotlight, though? He's there, and he looks cool, but his performance feels very complimentary - even, like, contingent - to Yua's actions. Valkyrie gets the gigantic But Why Heroism henshin, she gets the finisher, she gets the form changes, she gets the very cool acrobatics... I don't know, I felt like she was the unambiguous star of this climax?