[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

We actually won't see the character at all for a couple episodes while the production staff figured out what to do without an actress. When she does come back... well, you'll see in a few days.

does she come back as an anime character



Man, that's a bummer. I honestly don't know if this is going to sink the next 20 episodes for me or what. Hiyori being gone from Kabuto was such a distracting development, and... ugh. Ugh!

Total bummer.

[Mmicb0b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

does she come back as anime character



Man, that's a bummer. I honestly don't know if this is going to sink the next 20 episodes for me or what. Hiyori being gone from Kabuto was such a distracting development, and... ugh. Ugh!

Total bummer.

I honestly think this did leave to possibly Den-O's biggest plot twist though

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mmicb0b

I honestly think this did leave to possibly Den-O's biggest plot twist though

I mean, I've seen that figure around for a while, and it's called "Hana 19-year old Version", so I think with this new information that I can probably hazard a guess as to what possible scenario the producers will decide on.

Ryotaro's just going to play Hana now, too.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Man, that's a bummer. I honestly don't know if this is going to sink the next 20 episodes for me or what. Hiyori being gone from Kabuto was such a distracting development, and... ugh. Ugh!

Total bummer.

I'm honestly not sure how much it changes the characters' overall trajectory. What we ultimately see happen may have been the original plan or it may have been a complete rework, it's really hard to say without knowing for sure.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I'm honestly not sure how much it changes the characters' overall trajectory. What we ultimately see happen may have been the original plan or it may have been a complete rework, it's really hard to say without knowing for sure.

Yeah, I'll try to be fair to it as a story. It's not like Hana's arc was what I was loving the most about Den-O. (It was usually sort of boring and nonsensical?) That performer, though. She was such a charismatic presence on the DenLiner, and I'm definitely going to miss her.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yeah, I'll try to be fair to it as a story. It's not like Hana's arc was what I was loving the most about Den-O. (It was usually sort of boring and nonsensical?) That performer, though. She was such a charismatic presence on the DenLiner, and I'm definitely going to miss her.

Oh yeah. A full series with Shiratori is just after Taketara's original plan for Hibiki on my list of non-existent Rider material that I'd love to see.

The one upside to this, though? This is the last time this happened. The closest we've ever come since is Koyomi's actress on Wizard being too busy to appear on the show very much. It sucked, but she didn't leave the show and she still got to complete her character's arc.

I remember when I first started watching Rider back during W, there was some talk of being the lead female character on Kamen Rider being cursed. This came out because there was some vague controversy about Hikaru Yamamoto (Akiko) posting risque photos of herself on social media and/or having had a nose job. I forget the exact details. Ultimately came to nothing, but after Shiratori, Satonaka, and the untimely death of Hibiki's Miyuki Kanbe, it really did seem to be a job that had a lot of misfortune attached to it.

[Androzani84]

Well like I said, the VA for the Bird Imagin is so boring to read about I’m going to break my rule and talk about the contractor’s actor. I forget his name, but he’s better known as Houji “Hoji-san” Tomasu in Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger.

Not much else I can think to say about the rest of the episode. At least the next one has a decently punny title (even if it does fall into Engrish territory)

[Sh Ranger]

I can't say too much about the Hana situation without spoiling what happens to her, but I'll say that her absence is shorter than Hiyori's and actually results in a plot twist I really like in a way that I think is surprisingly fitting for her arc. I'll talk more about this later.

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 31 - "AI NEED YU”




I already knew what my Den-O Series Wrap-Up post was going to be about. I figured it out a couple weeks ago.

It was going to be about how my favorite thing in Den-O wasn't a plot or a character or an arc or a gag. My favorite thing in Den-O was something that was in pretty much every episode. It was that bit in the opening credits, when the music flares up after In Your Hands from the theme song, and it's Hana making goofy faces at the camera. That's it. That was my favorite thing.

There's a lot more I could go into about it, and I was planning to. Stuff about how the simple act of letting the actors mug for the camera was so integral to the warmth the show radiated. That taking time to show how Ryotaro's life was enriched by these two women, Hana and Airi, was a window into how deeply he connects with people. How much there was inside Ryotaro, and how these women could bring it out of him. Or how the characters facing the camera instead of each other was a way of communicating the ease of their relationship, that their support was unwavering.

But, y'know, Hana's gone now. That post is never going to get written.

I was sad watching this episode. I can't pretend I was viewing it objectively, ready to go on another DenLiner adventure with the gang. The whole experience was diminished. Knowing Hana wouldn't be back, or the actor wouldn't be back... this episode would've needed to be exceptional just to make me feel not horrible.

It was definitely not an exceptional episode.

The other part of that opening bit I really loved was Airi's laugh, the semi-out-of-character reaction to something Ryotaro's actor probably said to her. Airi's quirky mindfulness is a well that the show keeps coming back to, because it's refreshing to experience. She's like a home that Ryotaro can always return to, and the last storyline really enforced that idea.

So, yeah, inevitably you need to do storylines where that's disrupted. Or, I don't know, maybe not inevitably? Maybe it's okay to have something that isn't jeopardized or threatened? Maybe Airi's happiness and emotional safety doesn't need to be the crux of a cliffhanger? I don't know. Stories need stakes, conflict builds character, but having Hana gone at the same time that Airi's under attack... it's too much. It's too much for me to handle, honestly. I don't like sad episodes of Den-O a whole lot, and this one was just an all-the-way-through bummer to watch.

A lot of it was my mindset, which wasn't ever going to be great. But having the rest of the story be focused on some slimy banker concocting an incredibly illegal ten million yen loan with Airi's name on it to blackmail her into marrying him, and the climactic threat is that she'll learn the truth that her brother's been hiding from her for months that he definitely should've told her already... I didn't like this.

I'm sure I've said before how much I enjoy hanging out in the world of Den-O, how it feels like spending time with friends. This episode was the opposite of that feeling. This one was like an awkward dinner party that you wish you'd never attended. It's full of things that should be enjoyable, people you normally like; but someone's missing, and folks keep saying the wrong things. It's an episode that needed everyone on their A-game to make me feel like Hana's absence wasn't going to irrevocably change the formula, and what I got was a return of my least-favorite trope and a plot that was equally repellant and unbelievable.

I'm going to miss that girl who played Hana.



THE BAGGAGE CAR

-The idea of a banker just walking in and saying You Owe Us Ten Million Yen is stupid. It's just a stupid idea. It breaks the reality of the Magical Time Train show, if you can believe it. I can sort of vaguely see Airi not rocking the boat, since that's her nature, but just shrugging her shoulders as they repossess Milk Dipper, her parents' shop and her only livelihood, is maybe too far. The bigger problem is the Airimirers, who never think to, like, call the cops? I'm not sure someone can just show up with a contract you never signed and take everything you own? It's just a dumb idea that I was not in a charitable enough mood to overlook.

[Androzani84]

To borrow a phrase, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this.

The most I remember about this episode (besides the ludicrous plot with the banker) was that the Anthopper Imagin is the closest that Den-O got to a crossover with W (which, along with Build, is one of two post Den-O Heisei series that never got a full crossover with at least Momotaros or Yuto). He even has two voice actors (Count Von Count laughter)

Kosuke Toriumi

Notable Anime roles: Inazuka Kiba in Naruto, Kozo Kasahara in Rosario+Vampire, Saizo in Pokémon XY, Nephrite in Sailor Moon Crystal

Notable Tokusatsu roles: Taurus Balista and Gelnewt in Kamen Rider Decade, Piggies Imagin in Chou Den-O Trilogy: Episode Red, Rhino Doubler in Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters.

Tomokazu Seki

Notable anime roles: Tracey Sketchit in Pokémon, Mepple in Futari wa Pretty Cure, Gilgamesh in the Fate series, Ginei Morioka in Rosario+Vampire, Ashiya Douman in Garo: Crimson Moon, Frog and Eagle in Yu-Gi-Oh Sevens.

Notable Tokusatsu roles: Buldont in Choriki Sentai Ohranger, Bibidevi in Denji Sentai Megaranger, Tomokazu Daichi/Voicelugger Emerald in Voicelugger (live role) Kamen Rider Amazon from Kamen Rider Decade onwards (except Movie Wars Mega Max), Glen Fire in the Ultra Series, the Narrator/equipment voice/The Greatest Treasure in the Universe in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Akarenger from Super Hero Taisen onwards, past Sentai heroes in Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger Season Tsuu, Alien Icarus in Ultraman Ginga, Ultraman Ginga S and Ultraman X, the Great Leader from Kamen Rider Taisen onwards, The 15 luminaries in Kamen Rider Ghost (even Himiko), Gaisoulg and the Ryusoulgers’ equipment in Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, Ahiru Megid in Kamen Rider Saber.

Notable video game roles: Dumon Kasshu in Mobile Suit Gundam: Gundam vs Gundam, Kanji Tatsumi in Persona, Ishida Mitsunari in Sengoku Basara, Sonic the Werehog in Sonic Unleashed, Stan Aileron in Tales of the World, Yoshimitsu in Tekken, Joe in Viewtiful Joe.

Notable dubbing roles: Will in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Brainy Smurf in The Smurfs 2, Skids in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099 in Into the Spider-Verse.

Multiple media: Kikaider in the OVA (and Let’s Go Kamen Riders)

As for the other Imagin, his only other major role was as the White Wizard on um, Wizard before they revealed he was Fueki.