[Sylarking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

This Wataru right there, this reminds me of again Kuuga, which is Yusuke against Jaraji, the one he's pushed into brutally beating the monster with full of hatred. Though I don't think that this part is righteous for Wataru, or more righteous than the other times, while it's appropriate for Wataru to be enraged for this Fangire, I think if you're filled with hatred and vengeance for killing evildoers, it can be a fuel for.... becoming more and more severe in punishing until you end up like Nago (not that Wataru will of course, but sometimes these kind of monster can urge the hero to stain themselves while finishing them off in the process), giving excessive punishments to anyone that is bad just to make sure., as there are villains that is revolved around their loved ones.

Do you even like Toku? Because even killing monsters seems wrong to you.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sylarking

Do you even like Toku? Because even killing monsters seems wrong to you.

I don't want to put words in people's mouths, but I'd be shocked if someone who is as opinionate and curious about Kamen Rider shows as DreadBringer didn't like toku. We don't always see eye-to-eye on these shows, but I never got the feeling that DreadBringer wasn't as passionate about these shows as anyone. We all process art differently!

[Sunred]

I've asked this elsewhere on this site but Die, would love to hear your two cents now that you have experienced both shows. Who did the four main forms better, Kuuga or Kiva?

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

I've asked this elsewhere on this site but Die, who did the four main forms better, Kuuga or Kiva?

So, part of me wants to just mention that Kuuga wasn't so much my show, and that I'm way more of an Inoue guy. (To be absolutely contrarian: I am enjoying Kiva more than I enjoyed Kuuga, hands down.)

But the other part of me wants to acknowledge the iconic simplicity of those designs, even if I ain't, like, rushing out to buy Seihous of them. (Someday, but there's no rush.)

Honestly, though, I think I'd split the difference.

RED: Kuuga. I think Kiva's shoulder pads and chained-up shin are great, and I think Kiva's Yellow Eyes Red Crest are better than Kuuga's Red Eyes Gold Crest, but I gotta give it up for the OG.

BLUE: Kiva. The black shoulder pads on Dragon Form make it look like he's wearing a tank top? I can't not see that. Advantage, the guy in a full jacket.

GREEN: Kuuga if he's holding a revolver, Kiva if it's a magic gun-shaped Rider weapon.

PURPLE: Tie, because I literally can't tell them apart. Just the same goddamn suit.

I hope this helped!

[DreamSword]

real talk tho can we pls rename dogga form to doggo form

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 15 - "RESURRECTION: CHECKMATE FOUR”



I wonder if Wataru will be a good dad someday.

He's trying his best, with Biggie. They flat-out tell you that Biggie's "like a newborn”, so you don't miss the story they're trying to tell. It's all about how Wataru would be as a father instead of as a son.

I'd argue it's maybe a little early in the series to hit those notes, since we've barely gotten to see enough of Wataru As A Son, and basically nothing of Otoya As Someone You Would Let Even Hold A Child, to get a ton out of flipping those roles around. (And they are totally flipped, because Otoya needs/”needs” Yuri to feed him in this episode.) With how diffused the storytelling has been on this series, it's not like we've gotten fourteen full episodes to flesh out Wataru's character. It's still some pretty broad strokes.

But we're getting a story about him as a dad, and it's as sweet as you'd expect. Wataru finds himself caring for an amnesiac giant he names Biggie, and it's all these little jokes about a mountain with the mind of an innocent child, but then there's real warmth when Wataru and Biggie bond over bike maintenance. It's cute to see Wataru get aggravated with Biggie's clumsiness, and it's extra cute to see them connect in the service of others. And that piggyback ride! Adorable. It's a sweet 2008 story.

And it's an action-packed 1986 story, because "Biggie” is actually Rook, a member of Lucky Clooooh oh oh! Whoops! Sorry! I meant to say that "Biggie” is actually Rook, a member of Checkmate Four. He's the same Fangire that killed a lab full of scientists, including Yuri's mom. He's also, we learn in this episode, the Fangire who wiped out the rest of the Clawolves in Jirou's pack. He's shown to murder rapidly in this episode, coming up with little challenges to overcome for no visible reason other than personal achievement. (Well, there's also a parfait?) He's a completely terrifying monster in 1986, executing himself with electricity at any loss and then resurrecting to murder anew.

That duality... it's interesting? It's a little too broad, maybe (the choices are Innocent Babe or Relentless Engine Of Death), but it's got some possibilities. There's a chance we'll get into a nature vs nurture thing, see where Wataru's influence will get him with Biggie/Rook, depending on if Kiva survives the ass-kicking he's enduring. And we've still got to find out why Rook lost his memory, and what caused it to return. Some stuff in there that could be fun to explore.

This episode felt a little thin to me. The fact that there's still so much story left to tell, and so much of Why Are You Telling This Story Now left to examine, that's not great. It's a weirdly small amount of characters that got used here. Megumi and Nago don't show up. Shima's only in one '86 scene. Shizuka's gone halfway through. Kengo is nowhere. Otoya's bedridden, and only gets a couple short scenes. The entirety of this episode is just Biggie Is Sweet and Rook Is A Killer. It makes for some fun fights at the end (having Kiva henshin directly into Garulu Form is excellent, since it makes it feel like one contiguous fight where Jirou is getting wrecked), but I don't feel like we know nearly enough about Biggie or Rook yet, and there's almost nothing else in this episode.

I'm loath to kick about a Kiva episode spending too much time on the story's Fangire, but this was almost unreasonably focused on building up Rook. It didn't really allow for any other subplots (short Otoya's recuperation), and it still didn't give me a grip on what the story is. I know what's happening, and why, but I don't know what it's all for. Compelling episode on a tense, action-y level, and I loved Wataru Is A Skinny Dad as a brief subplot, but it was hard to see what might've been going on under the surface.

It feels like Kiva's on the right track, though? A cool villain is a step in the right direction!

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I hope this helped!

Yep fine by me.

That said, Rook is played by Tomohide Takahara. Prior to Kiva his claim to fame in the genre was playing the role of Naoto/Sazer Tawlon, a fighter and the leader of the Earth Tribe in Choseishin Gransazer, a tokusatsu hero that featured 12 heroes based on the zodiac and produced by Toho aka the studio behind the Godzilla franchise.

[Androzani84]

And, here we discover why I’ve been referring to every Fangire so far as “Rank: Pawn”. Because there is a hierarchy based on chess pieces (though as far as I can tell, no knights). The Checkmate 4 are basically the bastard child of the Lucky Clover from Faiz and the Volturi from Twilight.

And since Sunred shared the actor trivia, I’ll just do the fact file.

Lion Fangire

True name: Creation of Heaven and Earth, listening to the Baby's Cry and the Angry Roar (天地開闢, 産声と怒号を聞きながら Tenchikaibyaku, ubugoe to Dogō o Kiki Nagara)

Human identity: Dai-chan

Class: Beast

Rank: Rook

Actors: Tomohide Takahara

Also, he has an insert song, but it’s not in the show at any point, so here it is https://open.spotify.com/track/31vCO...TNSPzeVkBqowYA

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Yep fine by me.

That said, Rook is played by Tomohide Takahara. Prior to Kiva his claim to fame in the genre was playing the role of Naoto/Sazer Tawlon, a fighter and the leader of the Earth Tribe in Choseishin Gransazer, a tokusatsu hero that featured 12 heroes based on the zodiac and produced by Toho aka the studio behind the Godzilla franchise.

I am slightly familiar with the works of Gransazer!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And, here we discover why I’ve been referring to every Fangire so far as “Rank: Pawn”. Because there is a hierarchy based on chess pieces (though as far as I can tell, no knights). The Checkmate 4 are basically the bastard child of the Lucky Clover from Faiz and the Volturi from Twilight.

Yeah, there've been a few unexplained chess references so far. The first time we saw Jirou, he was playing chess with the Frankenbury. And then again, the first time we saw Dogga Form, the Frankenbury was crushing a chess piece into dust. So there were a couple bits of foreshadowing.

[Kurona]

This is the one time I felt the whole "two time periods" thing actually worked? The contrast between this Fangire's past as a vicious berserker vs his present of an amnesiac sweet gentle giant. Builds a lot of tension and has a more natural and sensible connection