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11-11-2022, 02:02 PM | #1011 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Gotta disagree with both of you on this. He?s someone show as elected to keep the public safe, and that?s exactly what he?s telling the heroes to do. Plus, almost every issue in the world of this show can be traced back to Humagears (The Ark was created to guide Humagears, Gai was motivated by his hatred of Humagears, Will and the MetsubouJinrai members believed that Humagears were superior to humans and Lyon Arkland wanted to market Humagears as weapons), including the current one (MetsubouJinrai is a meld of 4 Humagear minds).
Beyond that, Daimonji is generally shown to be stoking society's mistrust of Humagears to feed his own ambitions, and because he firmly believes that human-form AI is a mistake. He's not just some vessel of society's will, he's steering things towards his desired outcome.
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11-11-2022, 02:45 PM | #1012 |
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Yeah, but like, that's another reason why I don't like it. Not only does it deprive me of the opportunity to see more of him using the cool suit I enjoy, but it's also antithetical to the show's message about the importance of identity, how people can dream to be more than what others tell them to be. Aruto fashioned himself a new Rider identity to personify his new ideals as the president of Hiden Manufacturing, but then Soreo's ghost comes along all like, "no, Son, you're going to be Zero One forever now, it is the will of Bandai."
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11-11-2022, 08:56 PM | #1013 |
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KAMEN RIDER GENMS - THE PRESIDENTS EPISODE 1
ha ha ha OKAY. I love Kuroto. Always have, probably always will. I honestly don’t know if it’s just because Genm was my first bonkers mastermind-turned-”ally” in Kamen Rider, thanks to coming in through Ex-Aid, or if the performance is really as singular and addictive as Kuroto’s 1000 post-show appearances would suggest. Like, I can’t be objective about Kuroto appearing anywhere he wants in Kamen Rider. It always makes me cackle like a lunatic. Which is not to say that this special is just Kuroto Greatest Hits or whatever! (Him craning his head back 90 degrees instead of ducking under a barrier is pretty Greatest Hits, though; the dude’s body is as elastic as ever.) There’s a point to Kuroto showing up, in that we’re back into a story about how a president should behave, and how charisma can deceive employees, and whether Gai’s lost a step by finding some humility. Kuroto’s here to be the dark reflection of Gai's former malevolence, to remind him what’s at stake if he abandons the people who put their trust in him. Kuroto’s also here to bring back the Kamen Rider Genm Lvl 2 suit, which is incredibly sweet. I don’t dislike any of Genm’s suits, but I love the purple-on-black of the Lvl 2 suit. The fight between Genm and Thouser (in the Oh You’re Sick So I’m Making You Use The Black ZAIA suit, for the most handwavey reason of all time) isn’t especially extravagant, but I love to see those Ex-Aid suits in (mighty) action again. And then we even get Masamune back at the cliffhanger! To remind the viewer that Zero-One is very much a series about how parents can fail children! Also, because HOLY SHIT IT’S KAMEN RIDER CRONUS!
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11-11-2022, 09:16 PM | #1014 |
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Mestsuboujinraia is a film I appreciate, but I'm not sure how much I like it? It's very much "Let's talk about our themes and have the plot sort of justify that" imo, and while there's some good themes, it means as a piece of media it doesn't quite pull through? And I never got round to Vulcan vs Valkyrie because uhhh it seemed really divisive and that put me off. Maybe I will some day. Yes I know I'm late, I'm just bad at this.
But you know what I'm not bad with? Kuroto content. Was there any need for a President-off? No! But does pairing redeemed-ish Gai up against Kuroto going full villain phase make for an entertaining short? Of course. And of course he's somehow survived his proper permanent final death by becoming a robot (in another universe? Zi-O please explain). He's the President, he can't die.
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11-11-2022, 09:16 PM | #1015 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
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I'm glad we just committed to Genm's the Presidents as an April Fools joke like we did with Kamen Rider Brain.
Having Gai do like a public apology video that gets cut off as he suddenly just collapses and the Genm's logo just phases out of his back like an Alien from Alien with a dramatic sting is hilarious way to advertise this. Anyway I thought this was a neat Part 1, I enjoy a lot of fun things like Gai being so broke he has to set up shop in Metsubojinrai's hangout of all places, and Rin! Rin's a cute addition to Gai's roster of allies, Thouser and his crew will always be great but Rin's nice. Also RIP to the Thouser Suit, they definitely just mauled it to make ZAIA which is an absolute surprise. Guess him basically bombing toy sales made Bandai tell Plex to just axe everything? Idk, I just find it funny that clearly something happened to the OG Thouser suit that they had to use ZAIA and gave a funny reason why. Will admit though I think the only thing I didn't like about Kuroto this time is it continues the thing I didn't like in Zi-O. And that was him getting very touchy feely with the cast he's interacting with. It gets to very uncomfortable levels at times and I don't really like this era of Kuroto in terms of those specific mannerisms. Otherwise solid special! |
11-11-2022, 11:56 PM | #1016 |
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Will admit though I think the only thing I didn't like about Kuroto this time is it continues the thing I didn't like in Zi-O. And that was him getting very touchy feely with the cast he's interacting with. It gets to very uncomfortable levels at times and I don't really like this era of Kuroto in terms of those specific mannerisms.
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11-12-2022, 09:51 AM | #1017 |
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KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE 01HERS: KAMEN RIDER METSUBOUJINRAI
I can see why this film isn’t for everyone. There’s about 75% of it that’s building towards a newfound heroism for our former-terrorist family - one built around Jin’s fiery empathy and Horobi’s cautious repentance - that then sort of abruptly swings towards a nihilistic embrace of Justice At Any Cost in the final quarter. It’s an ending that’s probably as disappointing to some segment of the audience as it is to Fuwa. Quote:
It’s a pretty classic Kamen Rider thing, immolating your hopes of a simple life in the pursuit of justice and freedom for others. It’s not… like, it’s not always supposed to be a good thing when a character chooses that path, and I think this movie’s melancholy ending is a good rebuke of the typical Kamen Rider story beats. We’re definitely in If Fighting Is A Sin Then Let Me Be Damned territory here. MetsubouJinrai is devoting the remainder of their existence to protecting Humagear futures, and they’ve left themselves nothing outside that vow. All they have is each other, forever. That’s pretty bleak!
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The path to get there is… a little bumpy. Arkland’s a fun villain (he’s Gai meets Evolt, which is super entertaining to watch), but Kamen Rider ZAIA just never threatens as an adversary, and the Sword drones are barely a step above mooks. The stakes in this movie feel endlessly hypothetical; a theme in search of a threat. So much of the film feels like only half an argument, with very little to motivate an extension beyond Rescue Jin, let alone the sort of zero-sum conflict that precludes a ceasefire. Arkland’s like I Made Weapons So You’d Start A War, and that kind of philosophical trap… I don’t know, it doesn’t make for an especially thrilling story, even more so when the ending is MetsubouJinrai murdering him and destroying their hard-fought individuality and potential. It’s a kind of bummer ending that never feels like it’s in line with the established stakes, even if I’m okay with a bummer ending in this case.
Arkland's also a villain who doesn't misunderstood goodness (which many does like Kai from Den-O), that he instead points out the shortcomings of malice, of which it's not limitless and it can be overcome like Aruto, Horobi, and S did, and that... positive emotions like justice can be more reliable overall, but here being used for evil schemes. About justice being unwavering, there's a saying that "The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation", as someone that has justice but lack compassion can turn self-righteous, and it can be harder to convince them of wrongdoings as they already think they're doing the right thing. They're not as evil as the full malice ones (like Azu), but doesn't mean they're not less dangerous, and that their justifications shouldn't be taken in face value.
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11-12-2022, 11:11 AM | #1018 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
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I don't mind it in general (it adds so much flavor to every dialogue scene), and I especially don't mind it as a way of differentiating Kuroto's Evil Kamen Rider President from Gai's Formerly-Evil Kamen Rider President. Cool and serious Kuroto would just come off like a clone of Gai, so he's got to grab faces and swing on wooden beams. It's definitely weirder/grosser when he does it to Rin, but I don't think it ever plays as anything other than Kuroto viewing himself as a god.
Which is why while I do enjoy Kuroto hamming it up, I'm not exactly fond of this era's Kuroto when he does that. (This era being Zi-O to Current btw) |
11-12-2022, 11:43 AM | #1019 |
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Yeah I get that, it's just as like... an introvert and someone who very much appreciates some kind of personal space. Especially in this kind of day and age... uh... it just really gets to me tbh.
Which is why while I do enjoy Kuroto hamming it up, I'm not exactly fond of this era's Kuroto when he does that. (This era being Zi-O to Current btw)
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11-12-2022, 09:34 PM | #1020 |
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KAMEN RIDER GENMS - THE PRESIDENTS EPISODE 2
Man, what?! I can’t complain about the Dans getting all weird and out-of-character, since they’re both Bugster Viruses born out of Gai’s neuroses, so they’re going to be incredibly weird versions of their differently incredibly weird Ex-Aid characters. Being slightly off-model is sort of the point. But, god, I can’t figure out what the point of this story was for Gai. His revelation that he didn’t love his company enough (Thouser Innovations or whatever) doesn’t really have any basis in this two-parter, aside from a general He’s Stressed thing. We never see Gai valuing anything other than his company, and he practically kills himself trying to rescue his one (1) employee. He’s as laser-focused on his company as he’s ever been, despite being menaced by two revived presidents. To wrap this whole thing up with Gai Learns To Love Being A President… what? It’s the thing he spent forty episodes of Zero-One loving! It’s his main attribute as a character! Literally the worst lesson Gai could learn at this stage of his development is that he didn’t love being a president enough! I don’t… I cannot understand what this story was supposed to be about for him. What an unexpected misfire. The rest of the episode is fun, sure. It’s mostly just Kuroto yelling MASAMUNE and Masamune yelling KUROTO, but both actors seem like they’re having a blast. But the Gai arc in this thing is baffling, in both its lack of motivation and its seeming ignorance of Zero-One’s story. So weird to fumble this hard!
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