[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER REVICE: THE MYSTERY EPISODE 1

Still, Otta! Kaido! Terui! The shitty boss from Kiva as the groundskeeper! It’s a mess of familiar faces in the first episode alone, with at least Terui and Otta requiring whole scenes dedicated to their arrival. They’re, frankly, the only reasons to be excited about a fairly innocuous bit of tie-in content, so it’s hard to say the episode made the wrong decision in stretching out their intros. (Nice to see that Terui still takes meetings at the one cafe from his Zi-O appearance, I think!) The whole point of this thing is Look Who Came Back, so why not give them room to breathe?

Yeah this is a crossover stuff. I find it surprising that George actually got Terui's autograph, despite asking for it. Perhaps he should give orders instead to say I want your autograph instead of questioning him. And here George already has mentioned his father.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The rest of it is, again, a lot of setup. None of the lodge’s guests make much of an impression, and one of them is bumped off a few minutes after we meet him. Ikki and Hiromi are both smitten with the innkeeper, which is… a choice. (I like that Ikki is canonically the horniest modern-day Rider; I dislike Hiromi getting easily distracted by a damsel in distress.) There’s some fun in providing a mystery for Ikki and Vice, since Ikki tends to be unobservant, and Vice is quick to notice things but bad at processing which details are important. They’re not exactly Philip and Shotaro, you know? It’s a nice change of pace to put these two at the helm of a murder mystery, mostly for how badly they’re equipped for it.

I'd think actually Ikki is a detective-like Kamen Rider without being an actual detective, like how he outwitted Kudo. Guess this kind of murder mystery would be fitting for something that has Ikki as the MC, and the intro also has W vibes, with W actually being a part of this crossover. And ofc, Vice has the ability to be intangible and check out stuff, which also helps in outwitting Kudo. I'd think actually it's not something that special in Suzu that makes Ikki and Hiromi so smitten with her but perhaps that's just me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER REVICE: THE MYSTERY EPISODE 2

It’s an interesting weakness in Kamen Riders, them not really being suspicious of folks. The empathetic nature of their role in the story – to generally see the best in people, to afford second chances, to lift up rather than drag down – means that they’re almost all terrible at sussing out lies and exposing deception. They’re terrible at solving mysteries, because they take people at their word instantly; it would be unheroic of them to think someone’s lying. It makes for a whodunit where it mostly seems impolite to accuse anyone of a crime, and that’s always fun to watch.

Yeah, the moral beacons of justice in Kamen Rider is often shown to be the type who see the best in people. But I honestly hate it when mistrusting or thinking someone's lying is considered unheroic. Which is where I don't necessarily view idealism and kindness as one-part, of which the former is your worldview, yeah, the part of seeing the best, while the latter is an action, to do good to others. I don't want for goodness to look even more bad (and stupid/blind) and got discouraged. Being good and being mistrustful aren't mutually exclusive. Good people can be just as discerning and mistrustful as any hardened, gruffy character but they feel no obligation to wear their healthy sense of skepticism on their sleeve in plain view. At that point, all one has to do is keep their wits about them and observe.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Also fun to watch: even more guest stars! We still have Otta here to remind us of his terrible police work (mostly yelling at people and getting into shoving matches) from Drive, where Shinnosuke was the one who solved mysteries every other week, not him; but we also get the (brief?) arrival of Gridon and Bravo, fresh from a cute Saber cameo (I feel like it’s even the same outdoor set) and in their TTFC upgrade suits. It’s a fun scene, even if it’s another in this project’s series of George Fawns Over Riders recap scenes. I like Kamen Riders having to deal with fandom? It’s such an unexplored section of meta storytelling for this franchise, where they’re usually either urban legends or hunted monsters. The integration of an excited fan like George makes these little cameos that much more delightful.

This'd be the main appeal for George to people in this point, considered relatable that he's a Kamen Rider fanboy himself. And here actually Oren and Jonouchi returned the favor of also being enthusiastic in those photos. Gaim itself also has fandom dealing like Kouta (and Micchy) being asked for a photograph, for Beat Riders dance though, but that got interrupted.