[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 16 - “A CONCLUSION, A GREEED, AND A NEW RIDER”

If it is the end for Tank Top and Girl, it’s a sort of underwhelming conclusion for the two of them. It’s interesting in how their bond is used to showcase both the innate desire of the Greeed for things like love and safety, while still being amplified to an unnatural hunger that threatens the world. But it feels a little light on individual conflict, keeping Mezool and Gamel apart until Gamel gets absorbed into Mezool and then Mezool gets flooded with Medals until she becomes a giant CG amphibian monstrosity. It all happens sort of quickly, and the episode doesn’t make it enough of a focal point for my liking.

I don't know if this'd be a spoiler (this is my first time watching OOO), but this shouldn't be an end for Mezool, as her true desire that I've read somewhere hasn't been revealed yet. OOO's blue combo ShaUTa. should likely come from Mezool, also hasn't appeared yet. Guess it's not only the heroes that wants nothing for themselves like Eiji, Gamel also only wants to take care of his mother figure Mezool, rather like Julio/Tamaki in Revice wanting to take care of Aguilera. Mezool claims to love him, but it still feels that Mezool is also taking advantage of him, rather like the other Greeeds like Uva hunting Mezool before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

For an episode that’s nominally about defining the threat of the Greeed gaining their Core Medals – via a large amphibious monster wrecking an empty park – there’s so much fascinating sadness to the Greeed’s existence that we learn about from Kougami’s exposition. Ankh’s a pissy baby, Uva’s a slimy doofus, Kazari’s a duplicitous prick, Mezool’s an untrustworthy matron, and Gamel’s a blundering child, but they’re all driven by a need to reclaim their Core Medals. There’s a (if you’ll pardon the pun) core deficiency to their lives as Greeed – they’re all missing a part of themselves from birth, and their existence is about trying to reclaim that missing part of themself. Their lives are the rapacious hunger brought about by an unfillable void, and the existential terror that knows how easily they could be reduced to nothingness. (Much like, uh, everyone!) In that light, Kazari and Ankh’s quest to collect Core Medals feels less like world domination than it does the fervent hope that mortality can be held at bay, and maybe some solace can be found in its place.

Though the tragedy does increase the sympathy points for them, it'd still be villainy from them to try to survive as they do it by creating the Yummies to farm for Cell Medals and hurting innocents in the process, they're not only attacking each other to gain the Cores. This'd be like if the Ryuki Riders more actively feed their Contract Monsters to humans (done by the most evil Riders like Ouja), where it's something required so they won't get eaten by their monsters other than killing Mirror Monsters. Other than that, this also shows Kougami's character that, this reminds me of Sougo where he encourages even his foes to fight for their dreams, but Kougami won't ever intervene in someone's actions (where obviously Sougo stops evil-doers), even if it's depraved like Maki's, he'd let others achieve their desires even if they'd commit heinous crimes in the process.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s a solid debut for what I remember being one of my favorite characters in Kamen Rider. Birth gets the standard Secondary introduction of absolutely demolishing an enemy with the sort of pyrotechnic display and overwhelming firepower that we will never, ever see again as he struggles to hold off Pseudo-Yummies or that corgi who barked at Ankh or whatever. This is his birthday, so he gets to be the special boy.

With Goto talking to Maki (for a reasonable one this time, to arrest Maki for kidnapping Hina, as Eiji accurately predicted about the truck), and Maki talking about the new Rider system being completed (as usual, the heroes' powers would come from evil, Maki being the creator of them, and he knows it that he can't be arrested or OOO wouldn't get help), it's expected that Goto would be the one wielding Birth, but it's a red herring that, turns out it's Akira Date instead.