[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

SERIES WRAP-UP

One of the most amazing things about the Kamen Rider franchise is that it can be about literally anything.

It's not KR exclusive. It should apply on many franchises that has each work as a standalone (instead of a constant sequel to previous ones).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

When you?re telling a story that?s condemning violence as the solution to problems, or that?s digging into topics like how capitalism puts the working class at each other?s throats, it?s hard to do that within the context of a superhero show designed to sell toys to Japanese children. The elements of this show that are required by its genre ? the costumes and transformations and monsters and detonations ? frequently felt like impositions, especially in the first half of the show. Too many meditations on how therapeutic technology should be before it becomes a crutch ended up veering into pointless battles. So much of the MetsubouJinrai stuff in the first two-thirds of the show felt thin and unconvincing, compared to the depth and nuance of the average Humagear storyline.

The MetsubouJinrai.net stuff, yeah, they too are Humagears, who also got character exploration similar to those average Humagear storylines (YMMV though), got their turns at later part of the series. Jin at ep. 25 (his first revival), Ark at ep. 36 (the part of him starting to act on his own), and Horobi at ep. 41 (when he breaks off Ark's influence, albeit retains his genocidal view and prejudice).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

My favorite run of the show was the Job War arc, easy. It?s the smartest set of episodes in an already smart show. The switch from pointless MetsubouJinrai punch-em-ups to the individually-motivated Raiders and Humagears turned each week?s storyline into a tense showcase for societal integration and economic anxiety. The fights mattered, all of a sudden. The conflicts helped explore a society that advanced as quickly as it could without figuring out where exactly it was going. They leapt towards a dream, but didn?t know how to land safely. I loved that version of this show.

For all the talk about Fish having unpopular opinion, you too can have fair share of it... including right here about the competition arc. At least in most of the fanbase it's divisive to the point that producer Omori in a producer roundtable discussion on the TTFC admits it's critically divisive. Though you do finally tolerate the final a̶r̶k̶ arc due to its good middle execution despite idiotic start, perhaps you'd like this more due to being even deeper in the themes it explored here? As here too, there are idiotic parts that kickstarted this arc, such as how Gai could've bought out Hiden and held the contest entirely on his own terms, not giving Aruto slightest chance to stop him, Aruto going along with the contest without making an effort to expose him despite Gai's cheating ways, and Fuwa gloats about the evidence about ZAIA's wrongdoings in front of Gai.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I think this show was attentive to every character, which is a huge ask for a cast this large. Every Rider got an arc, and most supporting cast members got some growth over the course of the year. No one was a throwaway character, that I can remember. The problem is more that the show didn?t utilize everyone continuously, in regrettably obvious ways.

Aruto's a character that some audiences can feel overshadowed by other casts (often happened too for main character vs side characters - more like major characters that aren't main protagonists), especially by Fuwa here. But ironically this is a talk about how Fuwa's one of the characters that only got their spare of character focus in the series. I guess, keeping continuous focus to characters aren't necessary to be done, and what matters is the consistent quality of the characters. Quality over quantity, and Fuwa fulfills that for some people? Characters that have continuous focus are sometimes criticized as taking up too much screen time instead, and main characters aren't free from that (it can be actually the reason to prefer "side" characters over them).