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03-15-2020, 10:15 PM | #81 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
Also btw, before Ren also made a point about being stronger in fighting when you have a stakes to fight, a good reason to live, like his girlfriend for Ren, which he criticizes Shinji for not having one (and he responds by the 30,000 yen debt to drive him forward). So I think it's not about fighting for yourself but about what drives and motivates you to keep fighting?
I didn't mention it before, but I think it's great how Kitaoka, an actual terrible human being, completely sees through Ren's black leather jacket brooding bullshit for the empathetic, lonely boy he is. Kitaoka knows this dude for about eight seconds before he's like Ha Ha You Want To Be Friends With Shinji. Kitaoka! So great! Quote:
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Shinji's injury from episode 9 comes as an important plot point here, when Shimada and Okubo accuses him again as the kidnapper because that's the same spot where Shimada bit the kidnapper's hand, but Shinji reveals it's a huge bruise to convince them otherwise. I guess it's a good thing he kept his pride up against Yui and Ren regarding this injury before when he came home late this time.
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Regarding Kitaoka, as my post here said, I have to also talk about my favorite Final Vent at ALL time! That is Zolda's End of World!! The point of finisher is to use everything you have in devastating result to make sure you totally win. Zolda's Final Vent is definition of that, firing EVERYTHING he has in his arsenal, be it guns, cannons, missiles, lasers, etc. no matter who or what the opponent is.
That is exactly how I describe my introversion when I'm frustrated with family. I know that move, Yui!
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03-16-2020, 09:13 AM | #82 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
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It's been really interesting seeing how you've reacted to this four-part introduction arc for Kitaoka. This was Toshiki Inoue's first crack at writing Ryuki, so I guess it's only appropriate your opinions on it sound exactly like your opinions on a lot of Agito. Putting his work on Kuuga aside for a second, I think it becomes really apparent whenever you talk about him just how much his biggest strength and weakness as a writer are the same thing: how much he loves his extremes.
I guess I already talked about this a bit in the Agito thread too (double surgery!), but I feel like I'm starting to get a great grasp on why Inoue has the mixed reputation he does, and why I'm generally a bit more lenient on the guy than most. You know, it's like, Shinji being a complete buffoon or Yui getting constantly nagged by her aunt? Not the show's best material. Kitaoka being a comically huge jerk, and having the audacity to end the arc with him blowing everyone to bits, leaving Kobayashi to pick up the pieces the next week? There's just no way I can hate that.
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03-16-2020, 11:19 AM | #83 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
It's been really interesting seeing how you've reacted to this four-part introduction arc for Kitaoka. This was Toshiki Inoue's first crack at writing Ryuki, so I guess it's only appropriate your opinions on it sound exactly like your opinions on a lot of Agito. Putting his work on Kuuga aside for a second, I think it becomes really apparent whenever you talk about him just how much his biggest strength and weakness as a writer are the same thing: how much he loves his extremes.
I guess I already talked about this a bit in the Agito thread too (double surgery!), but I feel like I'm starting to get a great grasp on why Inoue has the mixed reputation he does, and why I'm generally a bit more lenient on the guy than most. You know, it's like, Shinji being a complete buffoon or Yui getting constantly nagged by her aunt? Not the show's best material. Kitaoka being a comically huge jerk, and having the audacity to end the arc with him blowing everyone to bits, leaving Kobayashi to pick up the pieces the next week? There's just no way I can hate that. Thankfully, Ryuki feels like it's aching to leave monster fights behind for a more unique, compelling story of competing Riders, so Inoue's emphasis on broad characters and personal drama is actually a huge asset. Like, it's only a couple things (the monster stuff, the extinguisher stuff) that feel like it's of a lower quality than the first half-dozen episodes. I think he generally did a good job on this one!
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03-16-2020, 09:01 PM | #84 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,411
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Quote:
It's been really interesting seeing how you've reacted to this four-part introduction arc for Kitaoka. This was Toshiki Inoue's first crack at writing Ryuki, so I guess it's only appropriate your opinions on it sound exactly like your opinions on a lot of Agito. Putting his work on Kuuga aside for a second, I think it becomes really apparent whenever you talk about him just how much his biggest strength and weakness as a writer are the same thing: how much he loves his extremes.
I guess I already talked about this a bit in the Agito thread too (double surgery!), but I feel like I'm starting to get a great grasp on why Inoue has the mixed reputation he does, and why I'm generally a bit more lenient on the guy than most. You know, it's like, Shinji being a complete buffoon or Yui getting constantly nagged by her aunt? Not the show's best material. Kitaoka being a comically huge jerk, and having the audacity to end the arc with him blowing everyone to bits, leaving Kobayashi to pick up the pieces the next week? There's just no way I can hate that. |
03-16-2020, 09:11 PM | #85 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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For me the issue with Inoue isn't extremism. My problem has always been that, especially from Faiz onwards, Inoue loves melodrama. He thrives on cheap pathos and inter-character drama, but he's not very good at it. That's why you get the over-reliance on scumbag, sociopathic antiheroes and simple misunderstandings that spiral out of control because characters refuse to have conversations with each other.
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03-16-2020, 09:19 PM | #86 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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INTERLUDE: KAMEN RIDER EX-AID EPISODE 1
Today's the two-year anniversary of when I started Kamen Rider shows. It's my Riderversary! I don't know if that's a thing. I didn't do anything special about it last year, that I recall. I noticed it back when I started watching Agito, and I thought I'd try and do something to commemorate it this year. The timing worked out, anyway. I thought, "Oh, maybe I can rewatch the first-ever Kamen Rider thing I watched, and talk about that experience.” You know, see if I can find in it the thing that ignited my fandom for Kamen Rider. (Is a Riderversary a thing? Do you remember the day you started Kamen Rider? Have you ever celebrated it?) So, just for tonight, I'm going to delve back into the first episode of my first-ever Kamen Rider show, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid! I'm excited to revisit a story of-- Oh. OH. Oh... Okay, look, I definitely didn't plan on watching such a, uh, fraught setting when I thought of rewatching this a few months ago. Obviously, it's not a topic most people want to see in their entertainment right now. You don't want the fears of a pandemic, the destabilizing effects of viral outbreak. You want escapism. And, man, I assume I wanted escapism a couple years ago. I remember bits and pieces of my path to Ex-Aid. I've mentioned it before, on other threads, but I've been a pretty hardcore Transformers fan since 2011. (Another thing I got into later in life! The origin story on that one is its own thing.) I'd read the TFW2005 boards and articles pretty regularly, especially on breaks at work. Sometimes, when boredom would get the better of me, I'd tab over to the other fan pages on the network, HissTank, ToyArk, and TokuNation. I didn't know anything about toku stuff back then. I'm old enough that when Power Rangers hit the US I was pretty much too old to get into it. I was aware of it, but I never watched it or anything. Kamen Rider, I knew zero about that one. But I'd see these Figuarts reviews of Ex-Aid figures, stuff like Bang Bang Simulations, and I'd be mesmerized. I didn't know what the hell I was looking at. Reading the reviews, and following the links, I'd start to build a totally-wrong version of the show in my head (definitely thought it was post-apocalyptic, I remember that) that was intriguing to me. I don't quite remember what made me take the leap to TOTALLY LEGALLY downloading the season of Ex-Aid, but it was probably just eventually getting curious enough to try it. So, yeah, all of that led to me watching the first episode of Ex-Aid two years ago today. Since then, I've watched all of Ex-Aid, and eleven other Kamen Riders besides. How does that first episode hold up now that I'm deep in the fandom? Does it still work? Can I say why it worked for me back then? I... I think this might be the best first episode of Kamen Rider? I don't know. Nostalgia's a hell of a drug, but this thing moves at a brisk, thrilling clip. There's an appropriate amount of set-up for Emu, for CR, for the Bugster virus, and it's all wrapped up in an easy to understand The Hero Wants To Save A Young Boy story. The stakes are clear, and small enough to feel vital, immediate. The hero runs on a mix of My Duty As A Doctor and a personal connection, the need to be the example that another doctor set for him as a child. You instantly get who Emu is as a character, and Asuna gets to play a neat foil. She's harsh when she needs to be, and helpful when she can be. And, like halfway through the first episode, we get glorious technicolor Ex-Aid aesthetics. I talk a lot nowadays about themes and character arcs and intricate storytelling and all of that. (I just did!) But the thing that captivated me back then, I'm pretty sure, is the second half of this episode. Shooting the Salty fight outside, in the daytime, on these rolling hills, it's beautiful. It's such a smart move, just bright and clear. The color of the Ex-Aid figures is what got me curious, and the back half of this one is reds and yellows and neon pinks and electric greens. It's huge HIT and LEVEL CLEAR and MIGHTY CRITICAL STRIKE callouts. It's a sweeping Henshin, one that I get chills rewatching, the promise that everything's about to change forever, that you'll never forget what comes next. It's a bulky comedy suit, a dopey gag of a cartoon, and it's unexpected in its piss-taking. All of it, it's about having fun, about the joy of games and the feeling of freedom that comes from them. That anything can happen, as long as it's fun. This episode... god, it felt good to watch it again. It's not perfect, mind. There're things that don't work. (I never ever liked Hiiro's dad.) But they're things the show would lessen over time, the pratfalls and wacky disobedient children. The core of it, all of the stuff I love about Kamen Rider, it's all here in the first episode. A hero who wants to make children smile. A colorful world of bright costumes and exploding monsters. An epic landscape of heroes and villains. I'm glad I found it. I'm glad I've got so much more to go. Here's to another year of Kamen Rider!
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 07-28-2023 at 03:30 PM.. |
03-17-2020, 12:36 AM | #87 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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Imagine if contracting Dragreder, Shinji contracted Mighty and he turned into Ex-Aid Level 1.
Also, I bet Genius Gamer M would have cleared the Rider Battle by now with no continues. Last edited by FreshToku; 03-17-2020 at 12:54 AM.. |
03-17-2020, 05:25 AM | #88 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 462
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I started watching Kamen Rider in 2007, although that was still later than Sentai I don't remember the day but it was sometime late 2007 I'd seen a bit of Den-O but not really got into it much then I saw episode 1 of Kabuto and I was hooked. I just love 2006 in Japan in general!
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03-17-2020, 05:41 AM | #89 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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Quote:
A̶n̶d̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶e̶m̶a̶l̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶n̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶Y̶u̶i̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶d̶o̶p̶t̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶t̶e̶a̶d̶.̶ (excuse my bad joke attempt) Quote:
For me the issue with Inoue isn't extremism. My problem has always been that, especially from Faiz onwards, Inoue loves melodrama. He thrives on cheap pathos and inter-character drama, but he's not very good at it. That's why you get the over-reliance on scumbag, sociopathic antiheroes and simple misunderstandings that spiral out of control because characters refuse to have conversations with each other.
Quote:
I didn't mention it before, but I think it's great how Kitaoka, an actual terrible human being, completely sees through Ren's black leather jacket brooding bullshit for the empathetic, lonely boy he is. Kitaoka knows this dude for about eight seconds before he's like Ha Ha You Want To Be Friends With Shinji. Kitaoka! So great!
Quote:
The arm injury... it maybe bugged me a little bit? We knew Shimada bit her kidnapper's hand, we even see it again in the flashback, but she says she hurt his arm. They make it "arm" so we can have a brief moment of Shinji's Kamen Rider Scumbag-inflicted injury get mistaken for damning proof, okay, sure. It's just, Shimada has to remember it just wrong enough for the two to overlap. It seems a little belabored to me, is all. It's only for a one minute gag, it doesn't overstay its welcome, so I'm not too put out. Still, thought that bit didn't land.
Last edited by DreadBringer; 03-17-2020 at 05:45 AM.. |
03-17-2020, 07:49 AM | #90 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
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God, I can remember watching the first episode of Ex-Aid all the way back in my first year of uni. Holed up in that little room, wondering if my slightly waned interest was due to 'growing out of it' (it wasn't), or because it came right after Ghost (also no, turns out I was just very stressed by the sudden change). Anyway, Ex-Aid was great and the fact I'm still here should be enough to prove it meant something.
(But if we're gonna argue best first episodes, I raise you Build, once again good on almost every level.)
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