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04-06-2024, 12:22 PM | #591 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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But anyway. It?s a fairly good first episode. It tells you that we shouldn?t expect Rider action in every episode and that we are gradually introducing the existing elements from Double into this anime for new viewers. And we also get an audience surrogate for said new viewers.
It's a little weird? I can't speak to how the series was packaged and promoted in Japan, but it was for sure disappointing that the U.S. release seemed (from someone who was not dialed in to anime) to not really tie Fuuto PI into the larger Kamen Rider brand. I'm gonna go ahead and assume that's largely down to W not being readily available for viewing in North America, so having part of your promotional campaign telling prospective viewers that it's the anime adaptation of a manga sequel to a live-action series that aired in Japan over a decade ago as part of a 50-year franchise -- the majority of which was never legally released in America -- would probably be considered a non-starter for the marketing team. People would likely be turned off? Better to just say Superhero Detective Anime and create as little a barrier for entry as possible.
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04-06-2024, 12:55 PM | #592 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,432
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Is Pretty Cure still a thing? I haven't heard anything about that in years.
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04-06-2024, 01:05 PM | #593 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,604
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Funnily enough it's the most present of the Super Hero Time trio in terms of exposure. It's been getting simulcasts for the past few years and I think this year they just celebrated their 20th anniversary.
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04-06-2024, 02:52 PM | #594 |
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It's also a great time to get into it too because Hirogaru Sky is a legit great season that's also very newbie friendly.
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04-06-2024, 04:30 PM | #595 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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FUUTO P.I. EPISODE 2 - “BEWARE OF T - THERE’S THE CULPRIT”
Solid middle third of a three-parter! That’s the biggest change to this animated continuation of Kamen Rider W – the three-part mystery structure. It allows for this episode to stretch out more, to slowly and incrementally create tension within the core Shotaro/Philip dynamic, and then leverage that to bring Tokime into the fold, rather than a two-part version that’d basically just be the Marina story from W’s opening all over again. As it is, this thing HEAVILY cribs from the opening W two-parter in playing Shotaro’s faith in a beautiful woman against Philip’s analytical detachment, setting up a brief hiatus of the two-in-one detective’s partnership. It all feels a little samey, at least for a couple scenes. Where this one deviates, in a subtle way, is that part of Shotaro’s belief in Tokime comes from the exact same place as his belief in Philip. Shotaro sees a super-powered amnesiac that’s being vilified, and he sees someone that probably just needs to be shown some kindness. (Also, she can’t stop taking her clothes off around him, which likely doesn’t hurt.) Shotaro feels like Tokime is in the same place that Philip once was, and Shotaro is always willing to ride with a devil like that. But not like that. But really, this is all about taking our time with the mystery of Tokime, and seeing how Team Double works as a, uh, team. Philip is front and center for this episode, so we get to see this show’s take on staples like the Gaia Library, the W Cave, Revolgarry, and W’s Henshin. They’re all good, if standard, with only the Henshin really flexing the muscles that come along with the blank canvas of animation. It’s a suitably strong place to end this chapter of the opening three-parter, as the clues have been assembled, the Road Dopant is revealed, and the city’s superhero has arrived. Not sure I’ve got a lot left to say about this one? It’s using the bones of the W premiere in smart ways, but I already watched that premiere, and I already wrote about it. We still haven’t really gotten to the point where this show feels like it’s doing its own thing, not least of which from the revelation that Tokime ALSO has amnesia, and is therefore zero help in articulating the newest threat to Fuuto. That’s some real Philip 101 stuff, and it’s probably my least favorite possible addition to the narrative of this continuation. (It’s such a lazy trope! And it’s in, like, every single Kamen Rider show! There’s more amnesiacs across this franchise than there are female Riders!) But this show continues to get the vibes right, which has always mattered more to this specific iteration of Kamen Rider than any amount of villainous plotting. Shotaro wants to solve the case of Tokime partly because he doesn’t want Chuuta to get the wrong idea about Fuuto, and that’s worth more to me than a dozen more amnesia-stricken characters. Which is probably what I’m going to get! — DIE-A MEMORIES -I ain’t using this every episode, since I’ve never watched this show before, but I needed a space to say that I 1000% did not remember Akira, the kid from the final W episode, when he showed up here. Partially because he’s apparently spent a couple years growing up into Micchy from Gaim, but partially because it seems like an incredibly weird one-off character to return to. I like it, though, because I like that Shotaro is now the Sokichi to a kid he doesn’t fully understand. This emotionally-cognizant middle schooler with a girlfriend makes Shotaro’s blood boil!
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04-06-2024, 04:48 PM | #596 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
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So yeah, considering every case is a full Volume from the Manga (around 8 to 10 chapters), that translates to needing a 3-Part structure for the episodes. Which proves for some interesting logistics in how exactly they chose to adapt the show. It's also why I'm commenting with every episode and not binging two at a time because three at a time and gaps of three is too much for me.
Anyway, not much to say other than this case is a bit more complicated given what surface level peaks we get at the gears turning behind the scenes. I do like that Shotaro turns out to not get burned like with Marina though. He's right in Tokime not being Road despite her having a Gaia Memory. Really the only danger comes from the unsuspected which is our mob boss and his goons. Speaking of Road though, fun if simplistic design, though you can really see them flexing with making this beast of a Dopant very expressive. Also Akira! The only real Manga note I have is them deciding to go for a quick gag of Shotaro getting after Akira for his "you should keep sounding cool" remark instead of what originally happened. It was mostly Shotaro starting to ramble about how his cool lines come from Sokichi and he still wonders if he can measure up while Akira reassures him that Shotaro's living up to Sokichi in his own way. |
04-06-2024, 05:04 PM | #597 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Yeah, he's a lot more expressive than you can get with a rubber suit, even if the design just says Fullmetal Alchemist to me. (I don't know Fullmetal Alchemist, but I've seen that one guy around on stuff.) He's got road markings on his tongue! And flash lights on his shoulders!
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04-06-2024, 05:18 PM | #598 |
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So it’s worth mentioning that one advantage of the Fuuto PI sage being in illustrated form means they don’t have to design the Dopants with the intent of making them into a suit for an actor to wear. And Road is a very good intro to that, with his detailed multi-piece transformation (the closest I’ve seen to that in a live action show is a taxi cab mutating into a spiky monster via CGI) and the fact he has a moving mouth and a deployable tongue (an actual suit would have only one of those)
Also, our OP and ED debut. Not much to say about the former, but I remember thinking the latter’s associated dance was slightly creepy (until someone replaced the Eternal/Skull duet with Ocean Man), but don’t remember how much it kind of gives away that Tokime will not only be a major part of the Narumi Detective Agency, but get a pink version of their phones. And now, for the casting stuff. Rider-Lert! Aside from the return of the Smilodon Dopant VA as Mick, Akira’s girlfriend is played by Tomo Jiena Sumi, the Kamen Rider Girl representing Gaim in the group. She’s had two onscreen appearances in the series she represents, in the main show as a dancer from a rival team and in the Gridon vs Bravo special as the villain Masako Suzuka/Kamen Rider Sylphi (one of my fanfics used this by having it revealed that Sylphi is the alternate universe doppelg?nger to the dancer, who upon ending up in the world of Gaim, kills her to assume her identity by disposing of the corpse in the trash). She also did a solo cover of the insert for the Jimba Arms which I used the (sadly, now privated) video for in my Zi-O feature’s entry for Gaim. |
04-06-2024, 05:18 PM | #599 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
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Location: Michigan
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Mick somehow changed breed.
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04-06-2024, 06:06 PM | #600 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
Also, our OP and ED debut. Not much to say about the former, but I remember thinking the latter?s associated dance was slightly creepy (until someone replaced the Eternal/Skull duet with Ocean Man), but don?t remember how much it kind of gives away that Tokime will not only be a major part of the Narumi Detective Agency, but get a pink version of their phones.
Also, neat to hear Eternal on the outro! Technically, he should really be performing on a Drive animated continuation, but I'm just happy he's getting work. One more mystery for the team to solve!
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