[Androzani84]

This is an episode which most people liked, even if they didn’t like the arc leading up to it.

I like neither.

Namely, because, as Layton pointed out, the show is trying to retcon episode 26 very brazenly, to suggest Daiji sealed Kagerou away out of spite, rather than killing him in self defence after trying to appeal to a better nature his demon was shown not to have. And the conclusion to that episode suggested that Daiji would be stronger and more ruthless given that he was willing to kill a part of himself, but that was quietly forgotten purely to push us to this arc. Also, like with Vail, the idea that everyone would welcome back Kagerou with open arms… requires them to. Pretend he was always a firm ally, and not a sociopath trying to ruin Daiji’s life and kill his family.



And now for EvilytyLive - I really hate everything about it. I hat the name, I hate the concept, I hate the colours of the stamp, I hate the sounds for the stamp (“Wings for the future” is not only not as catchy as “Wing to Fly” but it’s clear they only made one recording of the line, as opposed to Wing to Fly having low and high temp versions). About the one silver lining is that the mods to the suit were designed to be temporary, in case Toei wants to bring back Holy Live.

Also, Hiromi seems like the wrong person to bring Daiji to the state of reviving his demon. Given that Hiromi’s own demon was destroyed way back in the first episode. By the logic this arc is pushing, he should be crazier than Daiji. Heck, every villain of the week, Tamaki and Hana should all be crazy, going by the “you need a demon to be complete” logic. But none of them went through that (besides maybe Olteca). And after Daiji refused to listen to literally his whole family, the fact he does listen to a guy who already gave this speech unsuccessfully and has far less of a leg to stand on is… off.

Also, Karizaki Sr dies again. At this point, why should we care? He’s died three episodes in a row, so for all we know, he’ll be back next week.

Daiji: It’s Daiji and…

Kagerou: Kagerou’s…

Both: Stamp Navi.

Ikki: It’s great that you finally have Kagerou back.

Vice: Why? He tried to kill you. A few times. Over the course of weeks.

Sakura: We’ve missed having him around.

Vice: Look Kinoshita, just because he’s a fan favourite, you can’t whitewash that this guy is, in the nicest possible words, a douche.

George: I agree, this whole plot point about Kagerou being alive and it being necessary for him to exists for Daiji to grow is as bullsh*t as them turning me from a mad scientist to an ally of justice with multiple massively dumb excuses. (Turns to the screen) You’re a hack, Kinoshita. A hack. And I won’t stand for it. I’m getting out. (He turns to leave)

Daiji: Wait, we need you to explain about today’s Vistamp.

George: (sighs) Fine. But after that, I’m not helping you do this anymore. And Daiji, because you ruined one of my works to create this, you’re now on my blacklist for potential shows for this feature.

Perfect Wing!

Fly High! Perfect Up! Hehehe-Hahaha! Kamen Rider EvilytyLive! I’m Perfect!

George: Daiji Igarashi transformed with the Perfect Wing Vistamp! With the harmony with the revived Kagerou, the mind, technique, and body are all highly-revered, perfect superheroes! I guess it means that you have finally completed your own two-sided system. Spread the wings of light and darkness and fly in this dangerous worl- (sighs loudly) This is cliched crap. This whole idea of demons being necessary for humans has a basis in damn near nothing we set up. I hope you enjoy your new suit, Daiji. Because the stickers aren’t going to stay glued on for very long. (He then storms out)

Kagerou: Someone’s cranky.

Ikki: I’d say “we hope you enjoy the next instalment”, but something tells me George won’t.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And now for EvilytyLive - I really hate everything about it. I hat the name, I hate the concept, I hate the colours of the stamp, I hate the sounds for the stamp (?Wings for the future? is not only not as catchy as ?Wing to Fly? but it?s clear they only made one recording of the line, as opposed to Wing to Fly having low and high temp versions). About the one silver lining is that the mods to the suit were designed to be temporary, in case Toei wants to bring back Holy Live.

I don't hate it, but yeah, sure would be nice if Toei could bring back Holy Live someday, without reducing it to the "self-righteous idiot form" again, cause it deserved better than that. Even if they wanted Evilytylive to be a thing, there was no reason why they had to literally murder the Holy Wing Vistamp to make it. I can totally understand why George would be upset about that, even though I can also kind of tolerate the exchange to bring back an entertaining villain/occasional antihero like Kagerou.

Instead of making Evilytylive as a 2-in-1 equivalent to Kamen Rider Revice, I think it would've been cooler and more fitting if they gave us Holy Live and Unholy Evil as a duo.

[Switchblade]

Evilytylive is possibly my favorite gibberish name for something in all of tokusatsu. Top five, at least.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Layton13

Kagero? You do know this entire mess was YOUR idea? You can?t just show up again and complain Daiji took so long when this entire thing goes contrary to you last actions!

Kagerou's the contrary asshole version of Daiji's "contrary asshole but he means well"! Of course Kagerou's going to show up at the 11th hour and belittle Daiji!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Namely, because, as Layton pointed out, the show is trying to retcon episode 26 very brazenly, to suggest Daiji sealed Kagerou away out of spite, rather than killing him in self defence after trying to appeal to a better nature his demon was shown not to have. And the conclusion to that episode suggested that Daiji would be stronger and more ruthless given that he was willing to kill a part of himself, but that was quietly forgotten purely to push us to this arc. Also, like with Vail, the idea that everyone would welcome back Kagerou with open arms? requires them to. Pretend he was always a firm ally, and not a sociopath trying to ruin Daiji?s life and kill his family.

Mentioned this to another viewer, but I think it's neat that a storyline that concludes with Daiji learning the value of admitting your mistakes is itself an apology by the show for sort of bungling Kagerou's "death". Symmetry!

Beyond that, I'm okay with Kagerou coming back? That storyline concluded in the exact opposite way of the show's themes and other plotlines -- specifically ignoring how much the show is about acceptance and self-care -- and the subsequent horrifying spiral of Daiji was a nice way of adding stakes to that original oversight. To me, they managed to salvage that earlier failure, and create something better because of it. But I get that that's not the commonly held opinion!

And thanks for the fun skit!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Evilytylive is possibly my favorite gibberish name for something in all of tokusatsu. Top five, at least.

It's really top tier. I didn't think anything was going to beat "Cross-Z = Claws" for me, but Evilytylive is straining so hard that I sort of can't think of any other form names from Revice.

[Layton13]

Ok, here is the thing.

I 100% agree that Daiji making buddy with Kagero is the better, more fitting, and just right resolution for this show.

The problem is in how the show presented this arc.

Daiji killing Kagero was, at least to me, in the episode's subtext, seen as something good. There were no signs Kagero had any ulterior motive or that this was something shown as a bad thing. This makes Kagero's reappearance feel utterly out of character at best, and like straight-up a story fail at worst.

And here is the thing: the showrunners admitted in a blog post that, yes, Kagero was supposed to be permanently gone. Daiji killing his inner demon was supposed to be seen as a good thing, potentially to parallel with Vail, but that is just speculation.

I agree that this was a bad idea and doesn't fit the show at all, but the way they rewrote this chunk of the show is sloppy and doesn't smooth over the rough edges. I don't mind story changes like these in general; you just need to do them well. This one wasn't one of those I think.

That all said, I find it bleakly amusing that when the show gives me what I originally wanted, it still does so in a way that makes me disappointed xD

That's a first I admit

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It's really top tier. I didn't think anything was going to beat "Cross-Z = Claws" for me, but Evilytylive is straining so hard that I sort of can't think of any other form names from Revice.

For me, the only real competition it has is the linguistic hoops Ultraman Taro leapt through to make the acronym ZAT work.

It stands for "Zariba of All Territory," for the record.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Layton13

I agree that this was a bad idea and doesn't fit the show at all, but the way they rewrote this chunk of the show is sloppy and doesn't smooth over the rough edges. I don't mind story changes like these in general; you just need to do them well. This one wasn't one of those I think.

I think we can agree to disagree on this one. We both liked the intent, but found different amounts of enjoyment in the breakdown of Daiji and the return of Kagerou. Which is totally fair! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

For me, the only real competition it has is the linguistic hoops Ultraman Taro leapt through to make the acronym ZAT work.

It stands for "Zariba of All Territory," for the record.

Revice is the series that gave us Nest Of Anti-Human, so I feel like tortured English phrases are as much a thematic cornerstone as Family and Julio's Bowl-Cut.

[Mmicb0b]

This week on things that would've been perfectly acceptable if it hadn't been padded out for so goddamn long because we made a story that was good for 25-30 episodes stretched to 50 we have Daiji's arc. I think the idea of a secondary rider who starts off arguably more of a good guy than the MC but is thrust in a situation where sometimes the seemingly morally wrong thing to do is the only sensible choice(unless your the writer's favorite character and can shit out reality bending weapons to get what you want) and thus the dynamics are flipped is genius. The problem is all it takes is Akashi making it look like Iggy/Sakura killed Akemi and he's evil now you'd think he would at the very least talk to his family about it first. I would again not mind the idea of a heroic character becoming jaded and asking "Can we really win this fight?" but it feels like the wrong way to handle it IMO he should've thought he could take on Giff directly got his ASS Beat and that been what set him on this path. My biggest issue with this arc however is it's WAY TOO DAMN LONG I feel like it needed 3-5 episodes not nearly 10. Now onto my problems with Giff I've never seen a show less interested in it's supposed main villain than this show is he kinda just sits around until this episode. As I said in the weekly threads the only thing about this I'm HAPPY about is every episode from 30- is just the bad guys jobbing to the main villain unless Someone gets a power up (I'M LOOKING RIGHT AT BUILD HERE) but otherwise this arc is ugh/10. Like I UNIRONICALLY Think this arc is worst than Saber's initial arc because at least that arc was just them shilling toys while hinting blindingly obvious reveals it's bland but it's nothing these shows don't do

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mmicb0b

The problem is all it takes is Akashi making it look like Iggy/Sakura killed Akemi and he's evil now you'd think he would at the very least talk to his family about it first.

I don't... think that's what's going on here? Akemi's death is a brief rift that ends with Hiromi showing up; the larger issue is and always has been that Daiji resents Ikki's success and the support it engenders in others, while Daiji's moral certainty and pragmatism only gets him deeper into darkness.

[Layton13]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mmicb0b

(unless your the writer's favorite character and can shit out reality bending weapons to get what you want)

Ah, right! That reminded me of something I wanted to say.

Yeah, no.

The scyth does, in fact, not bend reality. It is based on a previously established ability George himself made, Volcano Rex, just adapted into a weapon. That form could separate Phase 3, which Anna was at that point, and higher Deadmans.

So, yeah, the show, for once, doesn't break its established logic.

That said, it has issues, primarily the fact it completely disappears after this narratively and really only exists to solve this without shoving Ikki in here.

It's not made for others, which would make sense given how useful such a weapon is, or leads to any significant plot points later. It just disappears, which I find very disappointing.

But the existence of the weapons in itself is not a thing I can hold against the show.