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Thread
:
Kamen Rider Die rewatches Kamen Rider W (and watches Fuuto P.I.)
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02-29-2024, 07:10 PM
#
315
DreadBringer
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 32 - “THE B BROUGHT BY THE WIND - NOW, AMIDST THE RADIANCE”
It’s honestly a fair topic of discussion, despite loving the character and performance. Philip’s the powerhouse of the team, after all, with his search engine brain and super-genius tech skills. Hell, the strongest Double form for the first 31 episodes was the one
Philip
piloted, not Shotaro. Add in the fact that the series-long Sonozaki plot lands entirely on Philip’s back, and it’s clear that Shotaro is the least necessary member of the partnership.
For fanbase though, Akiko would be the one seen as least necessary member, she's considered useless, or a load, with them viewing her as leading the team to trouble (Shotaro fights as W and is the hidari half of it). For this part, even the other 2 does not approve of Philip's move of asking Terui to become his partner, that it's stupid question for Philip, and Akiko, as what she did in ep. 4, calls out Philip again for degrading Shotaro (as weak), defending him that Shotaro isn't merely a tool to fight as W, his... half-boiled persona also makes things work. Now again his half-boiled trait is viewed in a good light, and indeed, even though he can't live up to Sokichi, he can be impactful in different way, like his moral being something that kept Terui in check from killing an innocent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
And even within the narrative… like, he’s
maybe
holding Philip back? And he’s
maybe
less good at this than Terui might be? It’s an ugly thought, but it’s hard not to be persuaded over the last two episodes that Shotaro is a delightful clown at best, and a bumbling amateur at worst – certainly no one that should be in the crosshairs of murderous Dopants and scheming criminals.
As being W can't work, Phillip can only hand Accel his Cyclone Memory for him to use with Engine Blade, performing a Maximum Drive with green-wind slashes which are enough to keep Weather at bay, losing the bear carving. Now I wonder if the reverse can happen, with W using other Memories than the 6 they use, if W uses Engine then he'd got lighter grey side other than Engine's power? Terui actually thanked Phillip and praised the memory, while keeping his stone-faced expression. This also alarms Phillip about how Terui can withstand Cyclone's power, bringing back Shroud's words before that he suspects his true partner is Terui. Shotaro had a mental breakdown over the fact that he can't become W anymore, even ignoring Akiko's invitation to go back from the bungalow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
But, of course, that’s the point of this whole story. Shotaro’s here
because
he’s the guy that isn’t a superpowered genius; he’s here to add humanity to Philip’s god-level view of things. Shotaro’s value is in his empathy and commitment, two things born from his lack of innate value or strength. He has to
work
for his place in things, which means he’s never going to settle for what he’s currently capable of. His weakness isn’t in his lack of power, it’s in his lack of confidence. He folds because he doesn’t see his own worth, and recognizing his contribution is the final hurdle he needs to clear to meet Philip’s newfound evolution.
Sokichi's message on the bear carving, "Nobody's Perfect", intended to expose the truth to Bitou (about Suzuko being true culprit) but not emotionally hurting him, but it's intended for everyone like Shotaro believing in Suzuko. This is a reminder of how, as Sokichi said, humans aren't perfect and they can make mistakes, but that's something ok, they don't deserve contempt for it, either from others or themselves. It reminds Phillip as well that W needs Shotaro's kindness, as it's not intended to be a perfect killing machine. Being a Kamen Rider prioritizes helping others, there are wide range of morally good trait and deeds in addition to “saving people” (by beating up the enemy) that should be displayed (also why I like mundane utility trope for superpowers). Like what Shotaro remind Terui in his debut, being a Kamen Rider isn't about hating the criminals and exert overboard punishment, but only the criminal act.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
And then there’s the Dopant story, which maybe loses some nuance in its escalation into There Are Two Of Them fight scenes and pyrotechnics (Zone Dopant is such a cool design), but still allows for a spectacular coda to Shotaro’s investigation by having him try and salvage Bitou’s faith in Bell – by getting her to confess and apologize, rather than Shotaro going to Bitou and breaking his heart – with the same amount of kindness that Sokichi practiced. It’s a conclusion to that plot that’s all about Shotaro being 100% the guy he thinks he’s pretending to be, which is as sweet a win as I think that guy could get.
The bear carving's purpose is finally seen here, it holds Zone Memory, and Shotaro exposes Suzuko that she's a Dopant. Sokichi hid the Zone Memory there, where Suzuko used that while Maruo used Beast to attack. Shotaro insists for Suzuko to apologize to Bitou for sacrificing his 10 years seemingly for nothing, but obviously, being in position of power (this time's true as no W for Shotaro; either 'Double' or 'Win') Suzuko is ecstatic of getting her Memory back, turning into Zone Dopant to teleport Shotaro into heights outside the building in a chessboard motif. Big mistake for Shotaro, revealing a Memory in front of its user without countermeasures as he can't be W. Zone leaves and drops Shotaro above a canal. This is kinda plot armor, don't see why she'd leave him in a relatively safer place from heights (albeit tbf fall from heights to water will still injure or kill), and she even claims he can grind his teeth in afterlife (indicates intent to kill). True as mistakes are the way to learn lessons, as well as despite that nobody is perfect, doesn't mean they should stagnate and improve themselves, like keep the moral approach but prepare countermeasures better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
DIE-A MEMORIES
-CycloneJokerXtreme!
-First off, I wonder if the Xtreme name came from the theme song, or the other way around. Like, did the song get commissioned, and the producers were like We Should Do An Xtreme Upgrade, or was Xtreme already planned and they had the songwriters focus on that?
-I really like the suit. Making the middle section a prismatic silver keeps the prominence on the Cyclone and Joker sections, while still providing a new color palette to play with. And I love how it uses Ws and Xs throughout the suit, in subtle ways: the W shoulderpads (not too big, even!), the X wrist and ankle guards, the way the W on the forehead splits into a W on top and then an X overall. It’s great, unobtrusive theming.
-Not a huge fan of Prism Bicker, though. I like the addition of a sword and shield, but that shield is so goddamn dinky. If it was even 25% bigger, I’d probably love it. As it is, it feels like nearly any blast is going to overpower it. It's like he's wielding the DX version, instead of the CSM version. Bigger Bicker, thanks!
The form is linked with the infinite knowledge of the true Gaia Memory as well, shown in W's Crystal Server, the iridescent band going down the middle of W's body. Due to said knowledge, W is able to analyze every aspect of the enemy... knowledge is power indeed, fight smart, not only fight hard (albeit all the knowledge are just handed there). Among its finishers, I'd tolerate Bicker Finalusion (the energy beam one) better, but I'd wish that for hyped up 4 Gaia Memories usage, the Bicker Charge Break would be more spectacular. Probably showcasing each of the Gaia Memories ability, like creating fire tornado + thousand cuts using spiraling stretching sword.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sh Ranger
Shoutarou is the man with the courage to ride with the devil.
He may not be a genius like Phillip, or hard-boiled like Terui, or even decisive like Akiko, but that courage is all he needs to turn weakness in to strength. That's a quality Shroud doesn't understand and Shoutarou himself doesn't fully appreciate either, but that's the reason why he's the only person who can truly be Double's left half. If Phillip's gotten stronger, it's only cause Shoutarou believed in him. Shoutarou took a gamble on the devil on Begins Night and got a true partner out of it. A leap of faith, just like how he solves cases with his hunches. Now Phillip believes in him with a hunch, so of course the solution to their power imbalance was for Shoutarou to believe in himself as well.
And the devil is Philip, the 'little devil'. For here, yes, this is the testament on Shotaro being the heart of Fuuto which Philip finally acknowledges. And for Shroud not understanding him, obviously villains can't comprehend why virtue is valuable, they look down on virtues as weakness, that is why they champion and celebrate their cruel ways (even for good intentions). And many fanbase also look down on these traits perceiving them as soft and wouldn't get it no matter what. Well, though Shroud opposes Ryubee, she does it for revenge and doesn't care how many innocents would it take to get her revenge as other than technically aiding Terui and the main cast, with her also pushing them to embrace destructive tendencies more, she's the one behind Isaka as well (including his murder of Terui's family), and Isaka's shown to want to oppose Ryubee as well. O̶u̶t̶s̶i̶d̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶a̶u̶g̶h̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶f̶f̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶K̶e̶k̶e̶r̶a̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶l̶y̶.̶
__________________
The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series
(currently only found Ryuki and OOO's).
Last edited by DreadBringer; 02-29-2024 at
07:13 PM
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