[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Hmm... to begin with, as I said there too, I don't hear often from people about anything regarding the MOTW stuff of KR shows, so I'd almost never hear something like Yamano or Shiratori other than the discussions here or other complete analyses like akinoame's. But regarding superhero media in general, I'm basing this part based on how there are many complaints about heroes wanting to save irredeemable bastards like reaching out a terrible but tragic villain (if they're major characters), or them having a no kill rule which prevents them from finishing off unlikable bastards too. One of the main reasons for this complaint is because they can endanger others by doing this (and it means they prioritize their own worldview to other people's wellbeings), which is understandable...

Again, I don't know who this hypothetical viewer is who's complaining about OOO not killing enough people, but they sound miserable. I'm glad I've literally never met anyone like that in the toku community over the last five years.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

He seems like a terrible roommate, and I would not have been upset if this show abandoned all of the Medal mythology and just pivoted entirely into an Odd Couple riff with Maki and Date.

The Larry and Balki of Heisei Kamen Rider, maybe? Or I guess, while more neighbors than roommates, would be more of a Jerry and Kramer situation.

[Androzani84]

Little did anyone know at the time, this would lead to the second most heated debate in Heisei Kamen Rider.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

The Larry and Balki of Heisei Kamen Rider, maybe? Or I guess, while more neighbors than roommates, would be more of a Jerry and Kramer situation.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

Little did anyone know at the time, this would lead to the second most heated debate in Heisei Kamen Rider.

That debate will continue to rage on! I, too, am unclear as to whether a director as visually-impressive as Ishida was in general through his career and on this episode individually -- The circular camera move during the Ankh/Kazari opening scene! Every single Ankh/Eiji shot in the back third! The One-Winged Angel stuff! -- was using a hilariously unconvincing body double for half of the Satonaka fight scene stuff on purpose as a joke, or sincerely as an attempt to trick the audience. (Like, you cannot cut between a close-up of Mayuko Arisue in her painted-on leather pants and someone who's clearly 30 pounds heavier in much baggier clothes without taking me out of the action! ISHIDA! What the hell, dude!)

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 20 - “BAIT, SUITABILITY, AND THE FLAMING COMBO”

It’s a little similar to Episode 15, in that everything here feels like a red line for the Eiji/Ankh partnership. Ankh counterschemes to wrest one of his precious Core Medals from Kazari’s grasp, but in a way that flings Eiji off of a roof and requires threatening Hina. Meanwhile, Eiji has kept one of Ankh’s Medals from him, fearing *see the last sentence*. These two are firmly in opposition, and yet… it also basically doesn’t matter?

It could seem a little flippant, how much Eiji doesn’t care about Ankh’s rapacious self-interest, or how much Ankh was never really going to hurt Hina. (It’s all threats, no real violence.) But there’s another plot in this episode, and I think it’s instructive in how to read what’s really going on with Ankh and Eiji.

It's not like Ankh can actually defeat Hina if he wanted due to Hina's super strength. And guess like Eiji, Ankh needs Hina alive. Just being all threats doesn't mean they didn't really mean it or have the heart to go through it, one can fail in carrying out that like because they're too weak to do so (Ankh also pretty much kidnapped her). What Eiji fears is Ankh abandoning Shingo's body when his revival is complete. This part also highlights Hina's loyalty to Eiji to never give up the medal to Ankh no matter how long Ankh held her captive so Ankh'd save Eiji.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

We get the first part of one of my favorite long-term sub-plots, which is the Date/Brotou stuff. (I’m sure other subbing groups stick with “Gotou-chan”, but I came up on this group's “Brotou”, and that’s the hill I’ll die on. It just feels truer to Date’s affection for this skinny child!) Gotou’s been tying himself in knots about whether or not he’s the right man to be Birth, and if his principles and pride are an obstacle to helping people. But Date makes it easy for him – he can’t even fire the Birth gun. All of the high-minded morality and ethics are missing the main point that Gotou can’t even do the job he’s worrying about, which is putting the philosophical cart in front of the tokusatsu horse. Date suggests that Gotou should maybe dedicate himself to being able to do his dream first, then decide if it’s a dream worth doing.

In contrast to Goto being unable to handle Birth at this point, I wonder if Satonaka, who has her action debut this episode (and not only ranged but also physical one in kicking the jellyfishes), is able to become Birth, but she just chose not to, as she just does the bare minimum of her job and doesn't care much. Otherwise, while for my experience, I do see some people praising characters who risk/throw away their life standing against threats they have no capability to stop, hailing them as more of the true heroes compared to the superheroes (e.g. German old man in The Avengers standing up to Loki), results still need to be considered to actually save people, and this part addresses one's technical capabilities in standing up against threats.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That’s sort of the zone that Eiji and Ankh find themselves in at the end of the episode. Eiji can’t trust Ankh to do what’s right, but he can trust Ankh to do what’s right for himself. Ankh hates Eiji’s obtrusive morality, but that obtrusive morality is the only hope Ankh has to rebuild his body. The arguments about the why of it all… that can all come after the immediate concern of what needs doing today. Despising each other for the ways their worldviews don’t align misses how effective they can be as a team. You can disagree about motivations, but that’s okay – the end results are what sometimes matter most.

Though the victim of the week, although there's a comparison between Yamagane mistreating Yasu and Ankh mistreating Eiji, didn't really get a proper conclusion, like perhaps Yamagane's actual goal or such, in comparison to Eiji knowing what Ankh wants. I do think that one can, for the lack of the better word, take advantage of someone of any kind of morality, getting them to achieve what you want. It's a smart move, though likely can be risky if they can wreak havoc to others if not stopped, including also Yamagane and Yasu being free. By this, even someone as depraved as Kuroto Dan can also be taken advantage to save the day, but doesn't mean that Kuroto turned into/was being a good guy by this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It makes for a story that honors both characters' individuality without compromising their bond. The little bit of swagger Ankh has when Eiji turns up for their battle against Kazari and the Yummy! Eiji knowing that Ankh will be there with the Medals he needs, even though Ankh flung him into the river! Ankh trusting Eiji with TaJaDor – here given so much more weight and significance than Movie Core’s whole Hey I Randomly Found This Please Use It In A Fight thing – even though Ankh has schemed for the last two episodes for this shot at resurrection! It’s all brilliant in how it leverages the tenuousness of their partnership, as well as the inevitability of their reconciliation.

Man so this is the difference between KR TV series story and KR (particularly crossover) movie story. And so, OOO's mid-season upgraded TaJaDor has an earlier debut than ShaUTa, TaJaDor's body language copies the majestic type of Rider/kaijin from Kobayashi's previous serieses, Ryuki's Odin and Den-O's Sieg, with Taja Spinner resembling Ryuki's Drag Visor, and the finisher being a Rider Kick on fire like Ryuki's Final Vent.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It's not like Ankh can actually defeat Hina if he wanted due to Hina's super strength. And guess like Eiji, Ankh needs Hina alive. Just being all threats doesn't mean they didn't really mean it or have the heart to go through it, one can fail in carrying out that like because they're too weak to do so (Ankh also pretty much kidnapped her).

I don't think Ankh was really planning to hurt her, though? He's capable of it, and he wanted her to remember that he's capable of it, but he never actually harms her.

[Switchblade]

Wasn't really enjoying the first part of this story, but the back half was an absolute home run. I'm always a fan of Ankh being a complete bastard, so seeing him yeet Eiji off of a building then dangle Hina over a canal was a lot of fun (I love that she was so unimpressed by him that she took a nap).

Given some of the choices the camera made when Satonaka showed up, I'm amazed Sakamoto didn't direct this one.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Given some of the choices the camera made when Satonaka showed up, I'm amazed Sakamoto didn't direct this one.

I only learned it was Ishida directing because Slow-Motion Shot Of Satonaka In Tight Leather Pants Dismounting A Motorcycle While Shot From Below was so indisputably a Sakamoto thing that I was just verifying it on the Wiki. But no! Ishida!!!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 21 - “A GRASSHOPPER, A FAMILY, AND A HERO”



Gotou’s just a weird little boy, you know?

It’s really fun to take this fast-paced story of stunted careers and directionless anger and adult disappointment and somehow drill it down into a story about Gotou seeing the world the same way a child does. I mean, sure, there’s a family in crisis, and we’re also in a story where Ankh’s inability to deal with his shame at his limitations is a parallel potential problem to Takashi's dad, but the really fun part of this episode is having a little kid parrot Gotou’s worldview back at him, while Gotou tries in vain to articulate a counterpoint to his own weird, childish dreams.

Takeshi has this handed-down sense of righteous justice, and he thinks that Fighting Evil is a cool thing to do. The idea of a grasshopper-themed warrior of justice bounding into frame to punish the wicked… what could possibly be wrong with that? What could be the negative of saving the world?

It’s always neat to see a Kamen Rider show try to balance the visceral thrills and toyetic idolatry of its milieu with a bit of caution for the children in the audience who might be missing the existential battle against violence that Kamen Riders are actually fighting. (I’d say it’s a Kobayashi special, but she didn’t even write this one!) It is incredibly difficult to have your karate bugman cake and eat it too, but it’s such a worthwhile endeavor. The act of teaching children that you can fight for justice without literally fighting for justice, or that the goal of a hero should never be punishment… I like that shows try to do that while also showing off the TajaSpinner or whatever the hell the wrist-shield thing is for Bird Form. I don’t ever want this show to lose its heart for its salesmanship, or vice versa.

But, yeah, Gotou! He’s got to talk this kid down from thinking that the point of a good life is battling injustice with your own two hands in the name of making the world a better place, and he’s just got nothing. You might as well have a story where Ankh needs to tell a kid why eating popsicles is wrong – blank stares and slack jaws, from credits to credits. We’re in that stage of the story, where the problem is presenting itself to the heroes. While characters like OOO and Birth deal with the more immediate threat of Rampaging Righteousness Monster, we’re slowly getting Gotou into a position where he can see how weird and childish his conception of things like Justice and Helping are. He starts off this story confronting a litterbug with only slightly more maturity than the child who kicked a stranger in the leg, which is setting a very clear tone for this thing when contrasted with Eiji’s calming attempt to defuse the situation without ceding ground to inconsideration. Better to stick Takashi with Gotou, since Gotou has to learn the exact same lesson as a little boy.

Because Gotou is that same little boy, and I’m glad this show finally sees it.

[Androzani84]

Well as the post indicated, this is the first Rider credit for Nobuhiro Mouri, who is still contributing as a supporting writer to this day (though if his Japanese Wikipedia page indicates anything, he’s more of a Sentai fan, which is probably why that franchise gave him the head writer’s seat).

Most people remember his for being “what if Masked Rider Shin span off into a series”, I remember it for the scene where Eiji has to talk with Ankh about what Medals they can and can’t use right now. Given how many later Rider shows with constantly shifting/finite collectibles gloss over any issues with accessible forms, it stands out.