[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by FreshToku

The thing I've been most impressed by in this thread is how you get to the end of these episodes with such thrilling cliff-hangers, yet manage to hold off watching the very next episode. I wouldn't be able to help but binge five to ten episodes at a time.

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Originally Posted by Kurona

Yeah, like, when watching Ryuki; I felt it was just so well-constructed and paced that it was something I couldn't help but keep on watching. A lot of Rider shows especially due to being ~50 episodes I often lose motivation for constantly watching and I have to take breaks, but Ryuki was one of those series that I just had to keep watching

I go back and forth on the speed of watching Kamen Rider series. I've done shows in just a few days, and it's fun, but I'm so blurry on details afterwards. At this point, I'm very into savoring the experience. Like, I'm only ever going to get to watch Ryuki for the first time once, so I really want to get everything out of it that I can. Doing an episode a day, thinking about it, writing about it, and then talking about it... I like that rate of consumption. I like feeling like I've, I don't know, honored the unit of entertainment, approached it as a single episode instead of a bundle of content.

In all honesty, it's the writing that keeps me from just devouring it. The whole process of starting an episode to submitting a post, it's like 80, 90 minutes. (Maybe more if something extra special happens in an episode.) It's tough to do even a couple of those a day. If I was just watching them and doing nothing else about them, I could burn through four episodes or so a day. (More now, shit.)

But, yeah, I think I prefer this experience, talking with other fans and taking it slower. This is nice. Y'all are nice.

[Fish Sandwich]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

To the points about needing to watch a show you love faster because you're addicted versus taking your time to savor what you love, look. The mature, responsible thing to do would be to savor the best shows as the precious resource they are. Sure. Agreed. But when I've got a few dozen more episodes of a killer show to watch, I am 100% not going to do anything remotely responsible. No. I am going to binge those episodes like Timothy Toei, the President of Toei (check the wiki!), is going to break down my door and take them back. I am going to shove them into me like they are Gaia Memories. Get out of here with responsibility.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

At this point, I'm very into savoring the experience. Like, I'm only ever going to get to watch Ryuki for the first time once, so I really want to get everything out of it that I can. Doing an episode a day, thinking about it, writing about it, and then talking about it... I like that rate of consumption. I like feeling like I've, I don't know, honored the unit of entertainment, approached it as a single episode instead of a bundle of content.

Character development!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Character development!

I've got an arc now! Is this current Take Your Time attitude just a phase before a slide back into self-gratification? Or has a newer, better Die actualized himself and taken steps towards a brighter future? Find out later this season on KAMEN RIDER DIE!

[DreadBringer]

Where do you get that Shinji's motive is to find Shiro, maybe fight Shiro, destroy the Mirror World, something? Also do you think that watching over Eri is also another "have to try" moment like Shinji here or Ren fighting Odin? Considering that Ren's friends are against him winning the war and it seems that the only way to cure her is the wish (may inevitably die otherwise).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

To me, if you're in a to-the-death battle royale where the rules are Fight Or Die, and you challenge someone to a fight? You demand they fight you? You kind-of lose the ability to claim self-defense. As viewers, we should be shocked that Ren went that far, expecting him to either change his mind or die. But he did the thing he said he'd do, and no amount of post-murder regret changes his culpability.

Fair enough for you lose self-defense claim if you initiate the fight. Though just wanted to point out that Ren has picked fights and sent death threats several times before this fight too. If not self-defense, I probably should reword it as; Ren should be sent to the extreme brink of death to make him actually kill, where the only other choice is his own death.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

Yeah, like, when watching Ryuki; I felt it was just so well-constructed and paced that it was something I couldn't help but keep on watching. A lot of Rider shows especially due to being ~50 episodes I often lose motivation for constantly watching and I have to take breaks, but Ryuki was one of those series that I just had to keep watching

Ironically (like Ryuki world itself) Ryuki is the series that isn't for you despite it being addicting.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I'm watching this thing and talking about it episode by episode. I'm going to say stuff that gets clarified later in the show, and I'm going to guess stuff that might be hilariously wrong. If I'm wrong because of something that gets revealed later, please don't tell me! Just let me be wrong! If I make some joke about Shinji being vegan, but there's a bit in a later episode where he kills, cooks and eats Ren, don't correct me, please. Let me have that surprise. You can have the knowledge that I'm going to be proven wrong later by the TV show, which is hopefully a delightful consolation prize.

Most of my concern, in approaching these shows, is dealing with the text of the show as aired by that point. There's definitely going to be stuff from later in the show that recontextualizes elements of the story, or outright retcons things. When I'm talking about it, I kind-of don't care yet about what hasn't happened, because people watching the show as it aired didn't have that knowledge. If it's been in the current episode, or any previous episode, it's a fact and it's valid. If it's something from a later episode, or some piece of supporting media, I'd rather not know about it.

This is just my stance but probably unknowingly clashes with your view of watching the series and if it does sorry for that. I think that the belt being used by one after another isn't a spoiler because it's just shown and happened in a Ryuki material (that was released at its time, albeit written by secondary writer). And I have no way to clarify other than the main series, but it was meant to just telling that the gimmick mechanic in 13 Riders is consistent as what's established in series, not touching any important Ryuki event (I was also at dilemma to do this, and dunno if other people using Advent Deck like Shinji did is much more important to you). I think I can't let an unjust complaint about a series being constantly lit up inside and eventually ruins an enjoyment about the series to the point of being too late (or just forgotten) for answers, so I was finding a way to stop this while also not actually spoiling important events. And retcons are like #1 no-no for various series.

[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Where do you get that Shinji's motive is to find Shiro, maybe fight Shiro, destroy the Mirror World, something? Also do you think that watching over Eri is also another "have to try" moment like Shinji here or Ren fighting Odin? Considering that Ren's friends are against him winning the war and it seems that the only way to cure her is the wish (may inevitably die otherwise).

For Shinji's plan in that episode, he mentions wanting to stop the Rider Battles "entirely" (in my subs). The next time we see him he's running to where Shiro's lab was. I'm just assuming that Shinji's plan (if you can even call it that!) was to either bargain with Shiro or try to stop him. I used "maybe" a bunch in that sentence because, you know, your guess is as good as mine when it comes to how Shinji wanted to stop the Rider Battles. Maybe he was going to offer every other Rider a free mirror if they dropped out? I don't know!

The Eri thing, I think that's just human decency. If someone's in a hospital near-death, you should be there for them if you can. Not that you can do something, just... someone should be there.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I've got an arc now! Is this current Take Your Time attitude just a phase before a slide back into self-gratification? Or has a newer, better Die actualized himself and taken steps towards a brighter future? Find out later this season on KAMEN RIDER DIE!

I realized a few minutes after this post that, just like Fish Sandwich knows more about Kamen Rider Kuuga than I do, he also knows more about Kamen Rider Die than I do.

[Kamen Rider Die]

MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODE 36



Ren's a killer! Eri's awake! Shiro's alive! Asakura is being transferred to prison by the entire police force of Japan! Reiko and Megumi are after the story! Yui and Shinji are desperate to stop Ren before he kills (again)! Kamen Rider Tiger and the Second Secret Science Society are waiting in the wings! And Goro, Shimada, and Kitaoka are hungover, possibly fatally! It's a big episode!

It's weird how little impact the Ren stuff had for me this episode, though. Some of that's because the other stuff popped way more, but some of it's because we just haven't seen the consequences of Ren's actions yet. He's stumbling around for this chapter, searching for another victim to bring him a step closer to saving Eri. But all of the weight for this storyline is with Yui and Shinji. It's about their attempt to save Ren before it's too late (when it's already too late), and how they need to let him know that Eri's alright. We get a little moment at the end, with Ren's relief at Eri's recovery, but that's not as interesting to me as what comes next. I'm excited to see what becomes of Ren after killing, and after Eri's out of danger. This part, where he's still a self-destructive Rider who's pinned all of his hopes on Boy I Hope I Can Murder Enough People, like, it's necessary, but it's not that compelling.

The Asakura/Everyone Else story, though, hot damn. It's just great sequence after great sequence, as Asakura schemes and threatens and assaults his way to freedom. High point of the episode, by far, is Asakura single-handedly defeating every single uniformed officer in Japan while a terrifically badass fight song plays. The police force seems absolutely cowed by Asakura, which is both totally cool (he's a war machine in a snakeskin shirt, I guess) and maybe too much. It's one thing when Asakura sneaks an Advent Card out of his Deck (that I guess no one ever searched him for?) to get a bloodthirsty Mirror Monster onto a police escort, it's maybe another when a cop has him dead to rights, revolver to his face, and Asakura just smirks so dangerously that the cop can't pull the trigger. I don't need the cops to stop him, that's a Rider's job, but I'd like the cops to feel like more of an obstacle than, say, Auntie. She would've pulled the trigger for sure. Or, more likely, she'd've put Asakura to work at the tea shop. Shinji hasn't been helping out, and she needs someone to fill in, and Asakura fits her only criteria of being a handsome boy!

Shinji and Yui do have their hands full with Ren and Asakura this episode, so hopefully Auntie isn't too put out. (That tea shop is empty 90% of the time, so I'm not sure what her problem is.) It's not really a lot of story spent with them, as they're pretty much just reacting to whatever else is going on. First it's questioning a completely wrecked Kitoka and Goro about whether they'd seen Ren, in a typically priceless scene. They're both destroyed from their victory celebration over Asakura, who Shinji didn't even know had been arrested. (Super funny exchange: "Arrested? Why?" "Aren't you a journalist?" Also, was that Shinji's actor on the TV that Shinji turns on?) Then, it's tracking Asakura in case Ren show's up, until Asakura busts loose and then it's chasing him and Ren. Once Ren gets news from Yui, though, it's pretty much just Ryuki versus Ouja with a final assist from Tiger. It's very fun scenes, but they're all plot-driven and/or action stuff. Effective and tense, but not much to say other than I Think They Did Their Job Well.

And, really, that's my feeling for the whole episode. It's an incredibly well-done, tense episode, but one where it's hard to do more than just say that. Thematically, there wasn't much to this one. A lot of cause and effect, not a ton of ideas to dig into. Still, ain't nothing wrong with an ass-kicking episode of Kamen Rider once in a while, right?

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Also, was that Shinji’s actor on the TV that Shinji turns on?

Did you mean Shouichi? Because that looked and sounded an awful lot like Shouichi's actor. But yeah, definitely some fun easter eggs on that TV. The clip right before that, I believe is from Moero Robocon, which was the show that had its timeslot taken over by Kuuga when it ended, where of course Kamen Rider stayed right up until they flipped the times around with Super Sentai a little into Build.

Also, you think it's hard to say things about these episodes? Imagine being me not having anything to contribute about you saying things about these episodes! This is a killer stretch of the show and the best I've got right now is meaningless trivia!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Did you mean Shouichi? Because that looked and sounded an awful lot like Shouichi's actor. But yeah, definitely some fun easter eggs on that TV. The clip right before that, I believe is from Moero Robocon, which was the show that had its timeslot taken over by Kuuga when it ended, where of course Kamen Rider stayed right up until they flipped the times around with Super Sentai a little into Build.

Is it weird that I think Shouichi and Shinji look really similar? They both have this long, feathered head of brown hair, they both have a goofy, earnest delivery... They look so similar to me, sometimes. Good catch, though! I thought it was something Shinji's actor did before Ryuki, but it being some other project from Shouichi's actor makes more sense.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Also, you think it's hard to say things about these episodes? Imagine being me not having anything to contribute about you saying things about these episodes! This is a killer stretch of the show and the best I've got right now is meaningless trivia!

Hey, you're trying. If there's anything Ryuki's taught me, it's that trying is sometimes the most important thing. Even if you don't have a good plan, go with your bad plan. And that was good stuff you shared! I mean, it's not like you showed up to this thread just to yell at me for liking a character more than you do. What sort of monster would do that?

[GrandComplete]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Is it weird that I think Shouichi and Shinji look really similar? They both have this long, feathered head of brown hair, they both have a goofy, earnest delivery...

Yeah no I don't blame yeah heck the next Rider Faiz also had a similar haircut too. It was just really popular style back then.