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#181 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,724
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Now this one, I remember a lot, but mostly for what happens in the second half of the episode. The most I can say about this episode in particular is that the song Chiyoko chose for her “Revolutionary France” theme is an English song written by a German composer. Are we sure she’s as well-travelled as she claims?
But I can talk about our Yummy host of the fortnight. Rider-lert! Erena, the actress/model playing the older sister seems to have something of a typecast in that regard. She was previosuly in the Ryuki movie as Miho’s older sister and in an episode of Go-Onger as Saki’s older sister. All three are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of character. Away from this typecast, she was also in Drake’s debut two-parter in Kabuto as the girl Daisuke falls for and the woman the Worm killed to replace her. |
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#182 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,452
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KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 23 - “BEAUTY, EGGS, AND A DORMANT DESIRE”
There just isn’t a ton of meat on the bone? It’s a very setup-heavy installment of a two-parter, as Uva feints with Kazari, Maki hints at Date’s Secret Affliction, and a new Yummy is sort of almost spawned. Nothing ever feels substantial, with almost every plot point or scene acting as a kind of narrative ellipsis. Kazari fights Uva, but nothing comes of it. OOO and Birth fight Kazari, but nothing really comes of it. Date talks to Eiji about their potential earlier meeting and Eiji’s lack of motivation, but nothing really comes of it. Gotou gets a single scene to establish that he works at Cous Coussier and girls think he’s cute, but nothing really comes of it. Quote:
The most time we spend on anything, really, is with the toxic relationship between sisters Saukra and Rei. Like, a lot of time? Arguably too much, considering how blandly dismissive Rei is and how generically Ugly Duckling Nerd Girl that Sakura is. (They seriously do the She Takes Off Her Glasses To Be Hot thing! Kind of lazy!) The scenes between them do the job right off the bat, thanks to how broad the concept is and how solidly the actors get across Meek Sister and Snotty Sister, but then we just sort of get a couple more scenes that spell that all out? With a few extra characters? It feels unnecessarily repetitive, considering that the writing on this episode – at least dialogue-wise – is typically tight and clever. We don’t really need as much time spent on setting up the background radiation of Sakura’s feelings of being left out of the spotlight or Rei’s casual disregard for her sister’s feelings, because all of that stuff is super obvious, but the episode just makes that the spine. It’s just not necessary?
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The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series (currently only found Ryuki and OOO's). Last edited by DreadBringer; Yesterday at 11:04 AM.. |
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#183 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,504
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Quote:
Now this one, I remember a lot, but mostly for what happens in the second half of the episode. The most I can say about this episode in particular is that the song Chiyoko chose for her ?Revolutionary France? theme is an English song written by a German composer. Are we sure she?s as well-travelled as she claims?
Is it? I honestly thought her name was Sakura, but I went back and found out that's her family name, not her name. My mistake! In my defense, literally no one calls her Yumi anywhere in the episode? Rei calls her Sis, her employees call her Boss, and Date calls her Sakura. I got confused because the episode didn't give me any other info! |
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#184 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,404
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I approve of your taste! Personally, I've always been fond of the idea of any random form using Gorilla and Cheetah. (Which I know you do get to see at least once somewhere in the show.) Not so much for any particular aesthetic value, but just because to me, it always seemed like the raw offensive power and speed of that pairing would be totally OP in basically any situation.
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So, by this, in fanbase's eyes, Keiwa's wishes aren't a priority to him (until the loss of his family where one naturally gets a downward spiral), just a bonus if he somehow wins, but Keiwa joins the DGP for the same reason as Shinji joining the Rider War, to protect people and other Riders. Even if Shinji wants a complete stop to the fighting, he wouldn't be able to do it as a completely normal human eh, that'd be why he chose to join the Rider War too (and in Advent Calendar, Shinji had a wish to revive all Rider War victims).
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OOO is a rather more lighthearted show, so perhaps Ankh can be just viewed as a tsundere regarding his claims about not caring about people's problems (which you also do for some depraved characters), as people'd see any lighthearted shows as all black and white, lumping all the good guys as white together, there can't be any moral ambiguity for lighthearted shows.
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KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 22 - ?CHOCOLATE, CONVICTION, AND THE POWER OF JUSTICE?
Every beat of the story feels plussed by the direction, whether it's adding a surreal overlay to Kanbayashi?s Yummy-assisted mission of vengeance, or a melancholy grounding to Eiji?s fears that unchecked righteousness can end in bloodshed. (Sort of makes sense that the guy whose origin is based on the consequences of a civil war would maybe not feel super great about people lashing out in the name of what they think is right!) Quote:
Sucks to see annoying outdated Western stereotypes in a Japanese show. It's the 21st Century, but unfortunately this kind of thing still happens.
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#185 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,504
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I think this is a complicated moral that needs to be conveyed carefully though, since there's a critical difference between justice and evil disguised as "justice". I don't want viewers to conclude from this episode that justice is wrong or an excuse to commit evil deeds. It's just that justice is a relative term. While Eiji doesn't desire justice for his own sake, he still fights for other people's justice, as long as it doesn't bring harm to others.
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#186 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,404
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Yeah, it's a moral that lands better in OOO than nearly any other show, because it's talking more about Moderation and Perspective than it is about Justice. Eiji's not saying you shouldn't stand up for what's right or protect people from what's wrong, but when you make it into a crusade you risk becoming part of the problem. Wanting justice too much, like wanting anything too much, can push you into some bad places if you let it.
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#187 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,452
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Quote:
Is it? I honestly thought her name was Sakura, but I went back and found out that's her family name, not her name. My mistake! In my defense, literally no one calls her Yumi anywhere in the episode? Rei calls her Sis, her employees call her Boss, and Date calls her Sakura. I got confused because the episode didn't give me any other info!
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The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series (currently only found Ryuki and OOO's). |
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#188 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,504
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KAMEN RIDER OOO EPISODE 24 - “MEMORIES, LOVE, AND THE OCEANIC COMBO”
![]() Happy Valentine’s Day, here’s the Love Combo! Obviously, that’s not the big deal new Combo for this episode, no matter how holiday-appropriate it might be. No, it’s Shauta, the aquatic Combo that’s been teased for a little while now. And it’s apropos, considering we’re at an aquarium, fighting a Stingray Rhino Monster (rhinos being the natural enemies of eels, after all). The form itself is pretty neat, despite a large portion of its usage being completely computer generated. I like the pointed brim of the helmet, and the electric cable-style eel whips that attach from the wrist to the shoulder. Stylish, when it’s a physical suit. As much as that’s the climax to this episode, and another excellent tactical fight sequence that depends on overcoming limitations through strategy and teamwork, it’s all sort of vestigial to this episode’s solid combo of comedy and pathos. Let’s talk about the comedy first, because it’s what I remembered the most about why I loved this episode. All of the stuff with Hina and Ankh having to navigate Eiji’s love-impaired mental state was killer. Hina getting bashful when Eiji asks for romantic advice! Ankh getting repeatedly smacked in the head for the immortal OOO gif! Ankh having to get Kazari to hold on a minute before a fight, so that he can get Eiji ready, and Kazari being like Wait What Okay Fine! And Hina and Ankh having to team up to perform an OOO Henshin on Eiji’s unconscious body! It’s laugh out loud funny, and all of this show’s comedic potential shoved into one ridiculous subplot. Any time Hina and Ankh need to work together is great, but having it be to protect a lovestruck Eiji from his own distracted impulses? Genius. The pathos side of things works nearly as well, since it’s all about digging into Date’s past and illuminating his strengths. (The stuff with the Sakura sisters… it’s fine? They both wanted what the other had, without seeing how to value what they already had, which is a very OOO way to defuse desire. Much like Date, I was completely ready to be done with their elongated melodrama.) Date’s immune to Yumi’s Love Whammy powers because he finds her superficial beauty to be a huge step down from the vibrant woman he knew as a doctor in Africa. Date fell for Yumi for her selfless dedication to helping people despite her anonymity, and he’s vaguely repulsed by the new shallow version that craves the love of strangers. She was beautiful before because she cared so much about people, and had such big ideas, that it was intoxicating. Now she’s sexy, but it’s nauseating to him. It’s all a really nice rebuttal to the previous episode’s weird glamorization of an already classically beautiful woman through the tired trope of A Little Makeup And No Glasses, since it basically sidesteps all of that to talk about how her goals changed into something selfish and vindictive, which is more ugly than anything skin-deep. Date’s story with Yumi gets at his attraction to people’s motivations, and his embrace of people who fight for their ideals. A woman like Yumi who uses evil to get adoration… that’s not gonna work for the Fighting Doctor. Whole episode worked for me, though. Loved this one, from front to back. What a holiday treat! ![]() |
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