[Androzani84]

To be fair, I was going to vaguely allude to the Archimedel in the room, but I couldn’t think of any good cryptic hints. If anything, you’ve saved me a job.

This episode left me asking two things: 1. Does being on a neighbourhood council or whatever give you free rein to violate people’s privacy? Because government ish position or no, this seems dubiously legal. And 2. Why are the main characters the only ones protesting this? There should be a crowd of extras picketing outside the dude’s house at least.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

This episode left me asking two things: 1. Does being on a neighbourhood council or whatever give you free rein to violate people?s privacy? Because government ish position or no, this seems dubiously legal. And 2. Why are the main characters the only ones protesting this? There should be a crowd of extras picketing outside the dude?s house at least.

I think a lot of people have shitty neighbors, and suburban communities frequently have That One Person who's always letting you know what the HOA rules stipulate, so the non-Yummy parts are just an annoyance that you have to put up with in society. This has only been going on for a day or so, so I'd imagine most people don't view it as harassment yet. (Plus, the public-facing stuff is mostly Oh My Gosh I'm So Sorry To Ask This But It Would Be Great If You Could Maybe Move Out Ha Ha I'm So Sorry To Ask Bye, which is something that's hard to take super seriously. Ankh is right to blow this dude off! The rest of it is all behind the scenes.) If Archimedal keeps screaming at people in the streets or whatever, I imagine the police will get involved, which I'm sure they love.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

The cast clearly doesn't know the difference between base form and upgrades if Eiji asks Date to stop him when he goes berserk as PuToTyra (my favorite OOO form, more than TaJaDor as a probable hot take, in design/color/still green-eyes), of which obviously base Birth can't stop a final form.

The green eyes really sell it, they look great on the purple. Putotyra is better for sure! Weird how the Purple Medal-piloted Combos are identified by purple eyes though, as one of the non-purple parts of Putotyra.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Dunno if there'd be those who ship Kuroto with Kiriya due to Doctor Mighty XX stuff, and think that bromance is formed between them for that, unless they think Another Ending stuff means they're really not a thing, though there's a difference if a villain want to resume their evil plans but can't, or them no longer wanting that (redeemed or retired, but can still be an uncaring asshole).

Of course, there are people who'd ship anybody, so it totally applies to those two as well. I doubt Kuroto would see it that way though, considering how the whole Doctor Mighty XX thing resulted in him getting forced in to house arrest and community service, despite actually being willingly helpful for that part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

About it being hyperbole... dunno if their perfect reputation is also helped by/about nostalgia, like them often being earlier shows a KR fan watched, it often happens that people put things that make them nostalgic on the pedestal.

Makes sense. Decade was an entry point for a lot of people (at least judging from that thread), so I can see how they would feel nostalgic about the first 3 full-length shows that succeeded it. As one of those people, I have Double and Fourze in my top 10 Heisei, but I'll still acknowledge their flaws and listen to people's fair complaints, even about Faiz.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It's also an ungu Combo.

Fitting that Power To Tearer is my favorite OOO insert!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 34 - ?BEST FRIENDS, MANIPULATIONS, AND RELATIONSHIPS?

And yet, again: complicated. It might?ve been that at one point, but everything they?ve gone through over the last eight months has turned that transactional agreement into first a grudging acceptance -slash- cohabitation, and now something more like support. While Ankh could not care less about Kitamura ? he immediately and epically blows up Kitamura?s lies in front of Eiji and Hina, right after he told Kitamura he wouldn?t; classic ? he knows that Eiji does care about him, so he steers the rampaging PuToTyra away from the helpless fanboy and towards himself. (He was clearly paying attention to Gotou?s strategy at the beginning of 33, and he would very much like you not to say that out loud.) Everything Ankh does at the end is under the veneer of What?s Best For Ankh, but there?s the tacit acknowledgement that Eiji is what?s best for Ankh.

There's an intriguing parallel with how Eiji trusted his family and Ankh trusted King OOO and both of them were betrayed. While Eiji reacted by giving up on desire, Ankh went the other way of doubling down on desire, neither of them wanting to experience that suffering ever again. And yet their ambiguous and admittedly kind of toxic relationship is gradually giving them back the parts of themselves that they lost, which means they have something to lose, but also something they don't want to let go of.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GodSpeedLove

I am also very much not a fan of Gotou, he really bores me, so I was dreading this episode, but I think it came out pretty alright.

I know right! After reading Die's opinions about Gotou, I realized that I have basically no opinions about Gotou, other than him being less entertaining than Date. Reminds me of Hikaru from Revice, for how much he just exists.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 39 - ?A NIGHTMARE, A SECURITY CAMERA, AND ANKH?S COUNTERATTACK?

THE BIRD YUMMY SPAWNED FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION FIGHTS USING RED TAPE: This is it. This is the best thing in this episode, and it?s also the episode where Satonaka fights a Yummy in a cute outfit. BEST EPISODE YET!

More Satonaka is awesome compensation for absent Date! Should've made her the new Birth instead!

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

There's an intriguing parallel with how Eiji trusted his family and Ankh trusted King OOO and both of them were betrayed. While Eiji reacted by giving up on desire, Ankh went the other way of doubling down on desire, neither of them wanting to experience that suffering ever again. And yet their ambiguous and admittedly kind of toxic relationship is gradually giving them back the parts of themselves that they lost, which means they have something to lose, but also something they don't want to let go of.

This is a really nice way of thinking about it!

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 39 - “A NIGHTMARE, A SECURITY CAMERA, AND ANKH’S COUNTERATTACK”

GOTOU AND SATONAKA: There’s something about the chemistry between these two that always delivers for me. (If I have one complaint about this series as a whole, it’s that the show never used Satonaka enough.) Gotou’s serious heroism set next to Satonaka’s whole I’m Just Doing My Job lackadaisical indifference -slash- constant understated competence is funny on its own, but this show always ups it by reminding the audience that Satonaka is actually Gotou’s boss. Him having to politely suffer through her lack of urgency is maybe my favorite attribute of Gotou’s, and this episode thankfully leverages that to immediately undercut Gotou’s big boy costume change and tactical backpack to make him STILL the sidekick to a more charismatic actor. Even if the rest of this episode had been scenes of the production team destroying my Figuarts collection, I’d’ve still cheered this episode on. Satonaka and her sidekick, Birth! SPLENDID!!!

I feel lackadaisical indifference fits Satonaka more here than understated competence. No one looks down on Satonaka I guess, but she really is someone who only fights/works for getting paid. She fits more towards the negative assumptions about Date, albeit money isn't her main goal (but it's often the primary aim on why one works). Dunno how limited is her indifference, like if she'd be like Ankh to stand by and let innocents get massacred if she directly sees them but no pay. This does feel more impactful about Goto having to learn humility, than back then when Goto suddenly eats the birthday cakes to work in Kougami Foundation again, probably what makes Goto need to become Birth earlier is not only about his screentime but also room for his development here to deal with unreasonable teammates. Though still I always wonder about complaints of characters being sidelined like Satonaka here, that they still deserve to be praised highly similar to characters like Momotaros, or that they're inherently lower of value in quality for being sidelined.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

SPECIAL GUEST-STAR ARCHIMEDEL FROM GEATS: Sorry to steal Androzani’s thunder, but you think I’m not going to talk about the guy who played a memorable character on my all-time favorite Kamen Rider series?! He’s hilarious here, a self-important busybody who’s actually the flunky of his domineering wife. He’s broad as hell, but that’s all to clue you in to the register this one’s operating at: full buffoonery. I mean, there’s a segment where Hina throws a ladder to incapacitate a Bird Yummy, followed by a segment where Hina holds a rag in front of Chiyoko so she doesn’t see that Ankh is fighting alongside OOO. It’s ridiculous, Archimedal (wink) is ridiculous, it’s all so much fun.

Guess Shihou Harumi really knows your favorites to be both in here and Geats. It's understandable, but even Chiyoko can get mad and throw tantrums, despite being seemingly always unfazed by other people's hostility, such as Ankh and Maki. Chiyoko directed her anger towards something more justifiable, unlike Sanako in Ryuki, though still wondered what'd be her limits by this if she could tolerate a depraved bastard in Maki. Though the Shimoda couple is clearly villainous, with a stock goal to rule over others, taking over the neighbor, being tyrannical watcher that does whatever they want, the other one who purposely uses the Yummy for their own benefit after Kanbayashi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

WHOLE EPISODE ABOUT ANKH’S ETERNAL FEAR OF BEING ABANDONED: It’s the tragic part of Ankh, his fear of abandonment. A lot of his abrasive personality traits are symptoms of his betrayal by the original OOO, and his certainty that he’s only at risk if he lets people get close to him. But it’s been 10 months since he possessed Shingo and teamed with Eiji – he’s let people get close to him. He has relationships, and that means he has something to lose. His nightmare isn’t that Lost Ankh will kill him, it’s that Lost Ankh will replace him with Eiji; his fear is that no one wants him around. The irony that he’s most at risk because he’s a sneering asshole that hijacked a comatose body isn’t lost on Ankh, but it’s also nothing he can do anything about right now. He’s terrified of being replaced and abandoned, but that fear is just making him more of belligerent weirdo than usual. The tension of all of that drives this episode, and it’s almost the best thing in it.

It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy yeah, to have a fear of no one wanting you around, but act in a manner that makes one really not want you around, like being abrasive, or distancing yourself from others (the "rejecting people before getting rejected" philosophy). These are also what I can go through. Oh, there was a character that brought this up, Yasu, the criminal victim of the week in ep. 19-20, about how he frequently backstabs others because he can't trust people. Though dunno too if Ankh seems to have contempt for humanity that adds to his abrasiveness to them, like how he immediately assumes the worst about Date, and that he feels humans deserve their just desserts for being consumed by their desires.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Of course, there are people who'd ship anybody, so it totally applies to those two as well. I doubt Kuroto would see it that way though, considering how the whole Doctor Mighty XX thing resulted in him getting forced in to house arrest and community service, despite actually being willingly helpful for that part.

Never talking about Kuroto or any of those villains as the actual characters themselves, generally, no one will see it that way, but more about the audience that'd always view any case about them being helpful and contributing to saving the day as being tsundere about said claims, where I want for the differences in why the good guy team cast (or just any team, like the Saber moral of organization =/= people) fight to be acknowledged.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Makes sense. Decade was an entry point for a lot of people (at least judging from that thread), so I can see how they would feel nostalgic about the first 3 full-length shows that succeeded it. As one of those people, I have Double and Fourze in my top 10 Heisei, but I'll still acknowledge their flaws and listen to people's fair complaints, even about Faiz.

Guess this is why I bring this up to you, in an OOO thread, albeit you claim you'd acknowledge the other two's flaws too (I'm only on the fence about Fourze regarding this). But dunno about acknowledging flaws and listening to fair complaints part, which I struggle with as well, that you must agree on said complaints without debating (perhaps like those liking less received shows by just acknowledging said show as flawed and that it's their guilty pleasure), and that if one explains or defends about a complaint if one feels they catch something that needs to be explained to said people, it means you're not listening and dismissing them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I know right! After reading Die's opinions about Gotou, I realized that I have basically no opinions about Gotou, other than him being less entertaining than Date. Reminds me of Hikaru from Revice, for how much he just exists.

And yeah, with what I talk about regarding nostalgia above, probably criticism about Goto would be met with more backlash or silencing, compared to something (even if they do earn the criticisms) like Hikaru from Revice you said there, or characters like Yua from Zero-One. Though ofc, doesn't mean that the ones who defend the popular show is always sheepish or the ones who criticize is always right (a view I hate too on the internet), just that this is perhaps an example of the double standard (I hate this regarding judgments) I brought up - still don't want for those that defend a popular show to be just dismissed as a sheep, as long as they'd give reasonable explanation while hearing out about the less liked shows. Otherwise, guess as another example, about what I talk in characters like Hiyori or Tsukuyomi being seen as wooden, it'd be similar to how you or Die view Goto.

[GodSpeedLove]

I really wasn't paying attention to Satonaka until this episode, so I was very pleasantly surprised with how hilarious Satonaka is as a foil to Gotou! I can't believe how fast the show won me over with the Birth switch. I was loving Gotou as Birth within half an episode after like 20 episodes of dreading the very thing! I honestly think that, although I much prefer Date to Gotou, Satonaka/Gotou is an immensely more entertaining duo than Date/Gotou. I would watch a whole spinoff!

I'm also very glad that, although KR definitely has a bias against she/her (apparently other terms are forbidden/auto spam filtered?) riders, they're not afraid to have them in more wacky, comedic roles (for the most part). I know not everyone's a fan of her, but Akiko's antics were incredibly funny to me, even though she never got involved in the combat. OOO was mostly missing that frantic comedic role, but I'm glad that it's coming back and it's just as funny! Definitely makes me wish we saw more of her.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I feel lackadaisical indifference fits Satonaka more here than understated competence. No one looks down on Satonaka I guess, but she really is someone who only fights/works for getting paid.

Which is okay! I don't know that a job HAS to be a calling or anything. She doesn't need to eat a ton of birthday cakes out of a deep desire to do so -- it's maybe more meaningful that she can live up to the impossible expectations of someone like Kougami just for a paycheck. A solid work ethic ain't nothing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GodSpeedLove

I honestly think that, although I much prefer Date to Gotou, Satonaka/Gotou is an immensely more entertaining duo than Date/Gotou. I would watch a whole spinoff!

If it wasn't easier to get one actor back instead of two, I wonder if we'd've gotten a bunch of Gotou/Satonaka over the years instead of Date?

Quote:

Originally Posted by GodSpeedLove

OOO was mostly missing that frantic comedic role, but I'm glad that it's coming back and it's just as funny!.

I imagine Chiyoko is meant to fill that Akiko role, judging by how quickly she starts throwing herself around Cous Coussier at the very mention of the boys leaving. The main problem is that -- as shown in this episode -- she's completely outside all of the Yummy/Medals stuff, so there's only so many ways to integrate her wackiness into a plot. Clearly they should've tried harder over the last 30-odd episodes, because she's awesome in 39.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

On the other hand, big fan of all of the Date stuff in this one! The reveal that he?s only ever wanted the money to get life-saving surgery is a motivation that will definitely land for any American adult, where we would gladly fight ancient desire monsters to eliminate medical debt. But even with that less heroic motivation, he still was never really going to sell out Gotou or Eiji to save his own life.

Probably my favorite bit from this episode was the part where Eiji and Gotou had really worked up this idea in their heads that Date was using his remaining time on Earth to build up enough money to use on some grand philanthropic gesture and his response was "Nah, I just need a bunch of cash to pay for a black market bullet-ectomy." Peak Date moment.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Probably my favorite bit from this episode was the part where Eiji and Gotou had really worked up this idea in their heads that Date was using his remaining time on Earth to build up enough money to use on some grand philanthropic gesture and his response was "Nah, I just need a bunch of cash to pay for a black market bullet-ectomy." Peak Date moment.

It's a great joke (matched only by Date pretending to die in order to motivate Gotou so he can also get paid for that), but the thing that's sort of sweet is that, at the end, Date's sort of like Your Thing Is Cool, Too, and maybe is actually going to build a school now? Somehow, Eiji and Gotou's radically incorrect view of the situation made Date a better man?!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 40 - “CONTROL, A BIRTHDAY PARTY, AND A VANISHING ANKH”



The middle part of this episode, though.

Team OOO goes to the Evil Neighbor house, but it’s full of controlled cops. Eiji won’t risk harming innocents in pursuit of the Yummy, so Eiji and Ankh have to wait around outside until the Yummy comes out. But they can’t go back to Cous Coussier – controlled cops, remember – and they’ve got no idea when the Yummy will reappear since they don’t know what its food is, so they just… hang out. They’ve got nothing to do, nowhere to be, and it’s summertime.

It’s the best little section of TV any series could ask for, giving the show room to cash in all of the investment the audience has made over the last year to create something so beautiful and melancholy. It’s all grounded in Ankh’s desperate need for control (like in the title!), where he needs to always keep others at a distance through cruelty, or threats, or intimidation, but it’s all just him trying to be the one that decides who can be hurt, so he can make sure it isn't him. Ankh clearly cares about this dumb family of morons he’s collected, and like he says, he doesn’t give things back. He hates that Eiji and Hina know him well enough to see through him, and it’s the blaring subtext of the best scene in the best episode of this show. (Sorry, 39, you had a good run!) Ankh still wants to be seen as the ruthless Greeed that’d kill any of them if the mood struck, but everyone knows that isn’t true anymore. It’s been a year, and too much has changed.

The best shows have this moment, around this time. It’s this realization that The End Is Coming – not some global apocalypse engineered by a genocidal villain, but the natural consequence of time, and Toei’s production schedule along with it. Kamen Rider OOO is only a couple months away from ending, and the middle of this episode really lets you sit with it. Another show might’ve held this off until the penultimate episode (possibly with a game of catch), but this one really wants you to feel the turn in the narrative. We’re at a point so removed from the beginning as to be facing a completely different cast. All of the battles and victories have forged bonds that don’t need to be spoken about to be recognized, which makes it even more poignant when the show decides to highlight them like this. There’s value in processing our journeys, and understanding what we desire. Ankh cares, Hina cares, Eiji cares; you care.

(I don’t have a lot to say about it, but I really like how this episode gives Hina room to talk about why she’s letting the status quo proceed, but then her answer is basically just Vibes. It’s so smart of this show to just let Hina enjoy her pseudo-brother without trying to define it or excuse it. It’s nice to have her brother around in some form, even if that form is Ankh, and Ankh is letting her have this time with her brother, so maybe he’s not so bad after all.)

The rest of the episode is a typically brilliant collection of fun fights and large-scale plotting – the wacky couple, Lost Ankh’s shocking cliffhanger victory, Satonaka negotiating a better salary to work at Gotou’s pace – but it’s the middle, and how it breathes in 10 months of exceptional storytelling to breathe out 2 months of trying to hold onto a thing as it's disappearing, that really made this one perfect for me.