[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Episode 8 -- "A New Magic Stone"

This results in a comedic sequence of everyone chasing around a camera on a stick trying to capture this unfamiliar familiar to find out what its deal is, complete with an epic duel between Garudas red and white.

Wonder if red and white is a reference to Indonesia's national flag.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

While that side of the plot is starting to simmer, there's the more immediate matter of the Gate that's being targeted this time. Since Hiroki Itou is just a kid, Rinko wisely suggests getting in touch with his parents to explain the situation, clearly recognizing how sketchy it would otherwise be for three strangers to suddenly be following this random child around. Which really adds to the irony of the scene's punchline, as Hiroki, uncomfortable with the idea of heading home, shouts that he's being abducted, sprinting away after making sure to kick both Shunpei and Haruto in a particularly sensitive area. (A little kid doing more damage to Haruto than any of those Ghouls managed, which just makes it that much funnier.) This leaves Rinko to give chase... resulting in her getting arrested by a nearby patrolman, in a brilliant inversion of Rinko slapping cuffs on Haruto back in the premiere.

While this is probably something to praise, as usual, kids are just given a less than pleasant first impression, the usual bratty kind of just attacking the people around them for no good reason. I mean yeah, he carries some issues and burdens, but still.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Not that Shunpei isn't an MVP here anyway, mind you. He seems to singlehandedly take care of Hiroki for the rest of the day, with the punchline being that he immediately conks out at night despite insisting he'll stand guard the whole time. But of course he'd be too tired to stay awake! He was playing games with and making food for and generally giving this kid his undivided attention and affection while everyone else was only ever shown standing around!

Unlike Keitaro from Faiz who, though he does genuinely care, he doesn't seem to use proper method to just spoil kids.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The model isn't that important, at the end of the day! Hiroki says so himself! What he's really upset about is how his dad buying the wrong thing suggests he's not listening to what he says all that closely, and with his mom taking his dad's side over his, he feels like his parents don't care that much about him at all. He offers the fact his mom was willing to let him stay somewhere other than home despite the danger he's in as further evidence of their apathy, which Haruto responds to by showing Hiroki the mountain of concerned text messages about Hiroki he's received from his mother, and pointing out that she trusted Haruto with Hiroki because Haruto is someone she knows, who has the power to protect him. Haruto also tells Hiroki that no parent doesn't care about their child, which might come off as a platitude, but the important thing to note is that it's a platitude out of Haruto's mouth, in this story that shows us his parents worrying only about their son even as their own lives faded away. The value of the line isn't only the text itself, but how it speaks to the strong feelings Haruto has on this subject based on his own experiences. Of course that'd be Haruto's perspective on the matter, and, of course, because saving Gates is more than just blowing up a Phantom, through this conversation, he's able to help Hiroki realize he needs to communicate the actual reasons he's mad, even offering to help him talk to his mother tomorrow.

While Haruto has his own experiences, and that this doesn't really apply on Mikiko, yeah, I don't agree with the statement that no parent doesn't care about their child. Roles like parent shouldn't be put on a pedestal where many can just deny if the parent is being outright toxic or abusive, always enabling all of their actions, that parents can never be in the wrong, and blaming the child all the time. And Kamen Rider is a franchise where often, the dad is the archnemesis.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

What has even less precedent is that, in the biggest shock of them all, Wizard is helpless against Phoenix. The fight begins with the two of them engaging in straightforward swordplay, and immediately, Phoenix is beating Haruto at his own game, with Wizard's usual finesse being no match for the raw power of Phoenix's blade. (Which is appropriately named "Catastrophe", by the way, though that's another name you won't ever hear in dialogue.) There's a quick shot that exemplifies the situation, where Wizard narrowly ducks under a swing, only to look back and see the tree behind him was cleaved clean apart. And then, right after that shot, there's another beat that further exemplifies the situation, where Phoenix hits Wizard's leg as he goes to do one of his usual cool flips, resulting in him falling on his back. Then, just in case it's not clear how bad this is going to end for Wizard, he tries busting out an early finishing move -- the classic tokusatsu warning flag for a hero about to lose. There's a sword-wielding fighter with the power of flames who's going to win this battle, and for the first time, it won't be Haruto.

It doesn't take someone hypercompetent like Haruto to dominate mooks. Even untransformed Riders commonly beat up mooks, albeit doesn't really put them down. Not as much of a surprise for me.