[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

I get that. For me though, I was willing to roll with it mostly just due to the whole "alternate timelime" deal Zi-O is going with in these stories. Had this been the Takumi and Kusaka of the "main" universe of Faiz, then yeah, I'd call foul. But as a simple and fun what-if take? I enjoyed it.

Oh, I mean, I enjoyed it: it's Kusaka and Takumi immediately brawling enough for a suspect to get away! What is there not to like?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I guess Takumi's and Kusaka's toxic template on friendship is the only one comparable to Sougo's and Geiz's dynamic. It's smart how this isn't just a pure Fourze arc cause that probably wouldn't have worked at this point in the story, where the two Riders are still a long way from being anything resembling friends. By using the Smart Brain Riders as an example that friendships aren't always friendly, it might give Sougo some hope that maybe Geiz will start to see him for who he is and forgive him for the sins of his future self. This is one of several ways that Geiz is like Ren, telling himself, "I need to kill this man", but his conscience usually keeps him from going too far.

I guess that's one of my problems? That it's more of a Ren equivalency -- I Have To Kill A Sweet Person And I'm Conflicted About It -- than a Kusaka equivalency? Kusaka isn't pissed off at Takumi (historically) because Takumi is an Orphnoch or because Kusaka is a pragmatic hero; it's because Kusaka is controlling sociopath who resents anyone who tries to puncture holes in his bubble of self-delusion. That's not even a little what Geiz and Sougo's relationship is like?

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 7 - “MAGIC SHOWTIME 2018”



I think this is the first episode with zero Legend appearances?

It’s not a deal-breaker or anything, since it lets the show devote more time to the (incredibly unhealthy!) Geiz/Sougo “friendship”, but it’s still weird. This is the most Decade-ish story this show has done, with the specificity of previous episodes tossed aside in favor of a more generic Magic Monster story.

There’s definitely some Wizard themes at play, but they’re a lot more subtle than I’d like. Hopelessness is the main emotion of the Another Wizard host, Hayase. He’s desperate to cling to some sense of stability, rather than try and reinvent himself. His world is moving on without him, and his need to keep everything the same has him spinning out of control.

It’s the same thing for Geiz this episode, and his relationship with Sougo. Everything’s more difficult for Geiz, because things aren’t how they first appeared. Sougo isn’t a despicable despot, he’s Kamen Rider Puppy Dog. Geiz’z plan was to be a grim executioner to Oma Zi-O, not his teammate and bestie. Geiz needs things to be black and white, and the pressure to fit things into neat boxes is causing him to be even more headstrong and violent than usual.

That tension between Geiz and Sougo is the main thing this episode has to offer. There’s nothing in the way of Legend appearances, and the Time Mission is sort of bland. (The show’s really having a tough time sketching out its one-story characters in a compelling way? They don’t really pop, you know? Adequate at moving the story along, but pretty two-dimensional.) While it’s fun to see how differently Sougo and Geiz approach an investigation – Sougo and Tsukuyomi talk to people and put together clues, Geiz runs around Tokyo until he just runs into a monster, which is actually SUPER Wizard – we’re not really in a tricky storyline or anything. It’s a bit wide-open, probably so we can start to resolve/progress the relationship of Geiz and Sougo.

Which… it’s an incredibly weird relationship! Sougo and Tsukuyomi make a lot of sense as teammates and friends. She’s empathetic and hopeful, which complements his worldview perfectly. With Geiz and Sougo, it’s way more dysfunctional. Geiz is specifically there to guard all of time against Sougo’s potential ambitions. The second Sougo starts to turn evil (by whatever personal scale Geiz uses), Geiz is going to murder him, because Sougo will eventually rob Geiz of everything he cares about. This is the backbone of their relationship. This is the foundation of their “friendship”: Geiz being both jailer and victim.

It makes Sougo’s cheerful optimism and ingratiating camaraderie into something a lot sadder, and worrisome. This isn’t Sougo taking a grumpy teammate and trying to get him to turn that frown upside-down. This is Sougo asking his executioner why they never just talk. It’s totally normal for Geiz to be weirded out by it! I’m only watching the show, and I’m mostly weirded out by it.

I think it works for Sougo’s character to not understand why he and Geiz can’t be friends, though. There’s an obliviousness to Sougo’s character that vacillates between Troubling and Adorable, and it’s way more on the Adorable end of the spectrum this episode. Like, Sougo and Geiz are teammates, and they can be friends. Geiz’z insistence on making things easy for himself by being intractable and stubborn is a defense mechanism, and Sougo’s right to keep pushing back against it. Much like Hayase's frustrating need to cling onto a theater no one else wants anymore, Geiz would rather vilify Sougo forever than open himself up to the possibility that Sougo is redeemable. It’s hard to risk that certainty, even if it makes you sadder and angrier to keep it.

It’s tough to have hope.



—

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 7.5 - “WHO IS THE WORST EXPLOITER”

While I feel for these kids (a whole day for Geiz to film a three second reaction shot that got cut!!!), I didn’t see a single bit of unused footage that would’ve made the episodes better. (The Uncle gag was fine, but it worked against the scene a little.) They can get mad at the directors all they want for wasting time, but they should thank the editors for dropping so many unnecessary shots. Like, yeah, you 100% cut the twenty seconds of Sougo navigating his bike down a flight of stairs. That’s a boring, pointless shot! Get rid of it!

All that said, I love how much real passion Tsukuyomi and Sougo bring to their aggrieved depression. That is some lived experience right there! Method acting!

[GrandComplete]

The beginning of the Wizard arc is so different from what we've gotten since it 99% ZI-O story with a 2 second cameo to hype up next week. And I like it just seeing cast sit down try to have a fun day all the while Woz is being creepy and cryptic. There still a dressing of a Wizard story but it honestly feel like a ZI-O stpry which isn't a bad thing at all.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrandComplete

The beginning of the Wizard arc is so different from what we've gotten since it 99% ZI-O story with a 2 second cameo to hype up next week. And I like it just seeing cast sit down try to have a fun day all the while Woz is being creepy and cryptic. There still a dressing of a Wizard story but it honestly feel like a ZI-O stpry which isn't a bad thing at all.

Yeah, it's mostly what I'm here for? Seeing a Good Despot and two Time Orphans navigate their fraught relationship and try and become emotionally healthy adults? At least for a story every now and then.

[Layton13]

Man, it's gonna be hard to keep my Sougo opinions at bay till at least episode 8 right now, especially since you are simultanious correct about Sougo and oh so incredibly wrong about him at the same time, as the show currently intens you to be I might add.

Your review on 8 will be very, very interesting for me given it was my turning point for the show and how I felt about it!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Layton13

Man, it's gonna be hard to keep my Sougo opinions at bay till at least episode 8 right now, especially since you are simultanious correct about Sougo and oh so incredibly wrong about him at the same time, as the show currently intens you to be I might add.

Your review on 8 will be very, very interesting for me given it was my turning point for the show and how I felt abput it!

I'm looking forward to it! Sougo's been a weird character to pin down, so any direction the show goes in with him could be really entertaining.

[cosmicrescend0]

Episode 7, please!

- I think this is the first episode where they occasionally start dialing the tribute stuff back in order to focus on what our main cast is doing? And I love Wizard, I really do, but I think this was a good decision for this one?

-Woz! I think the scene with him and Geiz is one of my favorites in the show? It establishes their dynamic and history so well. I think it's funny that he's On Edge about what befriending Tsukuyomi and Geiz could do to Sougo, yet still opened up with "Hey so like the overlord's taken a liking to you, maybe it's time we reconcile, be on the same page?" At least Sougo can't say he didn't try lol!

-Geiz is really raring to go this episode, huh. He's in peak "Not Here to Make Friends" mode! There's definitely a real impatience he has in this episode: Sougo is so Frustratingly Nice and Kind! He's invited them to a fun magic show!........but that's really mucking up the whole "Kill Oma-Zio to bring peace to the future" thing, yknow? It really says a lot about Geiz where his response to Sougo is to get more aggressive and divert his frustration onto something else (beating the shit out of that Another Rider), instead of maybe letting his walls down juuuuuust a bit?

-Oh this might be a reach, but I love we're doing the "Geiz and Sougo have different ideas of how to handle the MOTW" in the Wizard arc? Yknow, Wizard's whole thing being that he protects people and their hopes first and foremost, so that they don't go off the deep end and give birth to a monster? And in contrast, Geiz's actions just push Hayase further down in a spiral of paranoia instead of actually helping? It really makes that "You're not worthy of the power of a Rider" line feel a bit ironic to me, lol.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

Oh this might be a reach, but I love we're doing the "Geiz and Sougo have different ideas of how to handle the MOTW" in the Wizard arc? Yknow, Wizard's whole thing being that he protects people and their hopes first and foremost, so that they don't go off the deep end and give birth to a monster? And in contrast, Geiz's actions just push Hayase further down in a spiral of paranoia instead of actually helping? It really makes that "You're not worthy of the power of a Rider" line feel a bit ironic to me, lol.

Ha ha, yeah, Geiz is really in a Phantom mode in this episode, isn't he? Dude is all about humiliating and terrorizing some guy until he becomes the villain Geiz needs him to be. Good catch!

[Androzani84]

Here we are, twice in one day (from my perspective):

Ridewatch Playlist - I can’t believe it’s not Magiranger mix

“With the magical rings, it’s showtime. The jewelled Rider is… Wizard”

And we’re giving him his theme song this time, Life is SHOW TIME

“4 elements become 1. Wizard All Dragon”

Surprisingly, they actually made a song for this form, Alteration

“The magical stone that shines forever. The seriously amazing magician, Wizard Infinity Style”

And I’m being boring with the descriptions this time, because I can’t think of what to say. Here’s Missing Piece

“Fighting with the power of beasts, the golden lion Rider is Beast”

First time I’d heard of this song, BEASTBITE

“The time has come to awaken the blue lion, Beast Hyper”

And now, the list of the unreleased (no winners this time)

Kamen Rider Wizard (Water Style)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Hurricane Style)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Land Style)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Flame Dragon)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Water Dragon)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Hurricane Dragon)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Land Dragon)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Special Rush)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Infinity Dragon)
Kamen Rider Wizard (Infinity Dragon Gold)
White Mage (Wiseman)
Kamen Rider Sorcerer
Kamen Rider Mage (Amber)
Kamen Rider Mage (Blue)
Kamen Rider Mage (Green)

As for the compare and contrast, you’ve already pointed out how Hayase falls into despair easily, but I’ll also point out that he’s misusing his magic for personal gain, contrasting with Haruto using it to bring hope to people (and also, his “belt voices” exclude the “please” at the end). His monster form is basically “What if Dragon managed to send Haruto into despair successfully and taken over his body”, with some cracks on his face reminiscent of a Gate.

As for the episode, the show about Gates gets homages with focus on Geiz. Given that Toei studio has been blown up and the screenwriters have cut Sougo out, someone has to take over.

[Switchblade]

Episode 6 kind of broke my heart. I was never a big fan of combining two tributes into one two-parter (not the show's most controversial move for me, but we'll get there), but when you can't get any of the cast from a show, what else can you do (we'll come back to that, too)? Besides, I figured that some sacrifices in screen time for Takumi and Kusaka would still be worth it when we got to see them pull out their Gear and get into the action alongside Sougo/Zi-O and Geiz/Also Geiz. I've never hid my love of the Kaixa suit, so getting to see that in action again was going to be a huge thrill for me.

And then it never happened. Takumi never got to even touch the Faiz Ridewatch, much less use it to get his powers back. Kusaka didn't even get a vanity watch like Banjou's that did nothing but disappear forever after one scene. They just leave, pausing only to swing by the .5 episode on their way out. The idea that the show was going to do something like this, bring back old characters but not letting them get in on the action, really bummed me out. It may be shallow, but even by this point there was one main draw for me with this show and it wasn't the new characters. This episode, along with the whole "Riders were erased from history, but we're cool with that" nature of the Ridewatches are big factors in why I started getting such a negative view of Zi-O from pretty early on.