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But Shounen and Ryoutarou use them so mundanely. However, I think that can be intentional to contrast the character development later. In Hibiki Episode 44, Shounen runs to school for the first time as part of his Oni training, while Mochida rides a bicycle adjacent to him, expressing confusion. This scene is humorous but it's important to show how Shounen is more confident and determined. It's similar to the development Hibiki gets earlier, from pedestrian to motorcyclist. Quote:
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KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 2: "RIDE ON TIME”
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den2a.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den2b.png One of the things that led to me falling in love with the Kamen Rider franchise is its emphasis on helping people. Not defeating villains, or detonating monsters (although those could be a means to an end), but trying to effect a positive change in even a single life. That's a real Phase 2 Heisei thing, you know? Not that the Phase 1 shows lacked it, but it was what the Phase 2 shows were about, structurally. In Ex-Aid, the only way to weaken a Bugster is to find out what stress the monster is targeting, and find some way to address it. It's a show about healing people psychologically, and since it was my first Kamen Rider show, I've always thought of that approach as quintessential. Going through all these Phase 1 shows where people are mostly physically imperiled by a monster, and saving them is mostly as straightforward as detonating a monster, it's had me digging a little deeper sometimes to find what I'm looking for. You'd get some stories with emotionally-damaged guest-stars, of course. That Kuuga one with the kid who can't go home again. The Agito story where Gills teaches a kid to not run from pain. Keiko from Faiz. (Usually kids! Japan's not doing great with youth counseling, I guess! They should maybe not be entrusting the emotional development of a generation to pretty boys who detonate monsters! It's not technically their skill-set!) It's all stuff that focuses in on the Kamen Rider as a protective force, as someone concerned with making sure one person isn't living a life of fear and misery, but the monster is rarely about that. It's a little character study that ends with a monster getting detonated, but that's oftentimes tangential to the emotional stakes. You can weave them together thematically, but the plot is usually Something Emotional that ends with a monster's demise. So, you can imagine my absolute joy at a plot that's all about how difficult it is to live with regrets, and how it's about a monster who leverages that guilt into a way to obliterate a past the victim can't bear to remember. The specifics of the plot, the mechanics of it... not sure it works? It definitely has a cause-and-effect assumption that Japan's infrastructure is as Kamen Rider-dependant as its youth outreach (so no one fixes the vehicular damage in three years?), but since this thing is 100% drilling into Tetsuo's story, I mostly don't care about the possible destruction of Japan. It's a story about Ryotaro seeing a terrible person in pain, and trying to help them. Tetsuo's a violent bully, but even he deserves a little grace, a little relief from pain. Having Ryotaro not completely get what's going on but know that he can still help this guy? I love it. (The fact that Ryotaro only really agrees to fight as Kamen Rider Den-O after he sees a hollowed-out, teary Tetsuo is such an important point, and I'm glad the show made it.) And I love that ending, where Ryotaro is so unmoved by arguments about causality when there's someone hurting that he can help. Giving Tetsuo that little moment of being with his mother as she passes... this show! This is a show with magical trains and cute goth girls and imagination monsters and they told a story about the necessary catharsis of grief! And how it is more important to unburden people from the self-loathing that comes with regret than it is to detonate monsters! This episode was, no joke, what I've been looking for over the last 300-odd episodes of Kamen Rider. It's threading together the physicality of the monster plotting with the emotional stakes of the thematic work, and that storytelling is Kamen Rider to me. A mission to improve one life as a weapon against evil. Agreeing to enter a war against imagination monsters from the future because some bully could be at peace with himself if you do. I am so happy to get this type of Kamen Rider back in my life. https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den2c.png THE BAGGAGE CAR -Here's a little section for thoughts I don't want to try and shoehorn into a larger discussion, and/or a way to talk about the non-melodramatic parts of these shows. -I like the physicality of Sword Form. There's a wideness to it, where it's low but the arc is massive. It's not dainty or considered, it's Power and Risk. I think that's a great way of exploring Momotaros' personality. -And, yeah, Momotaros! Love him. Love his feud with Hana. He is trying to be macho in a situation where he is the most cornered character. Such a fun dynamic. -Hana, also great. She's a bit more feisty than I'd've expected, and that's a nice surprise. She walks a line with steering Ryotaro, but still recognizing his autonomy. She's never just, like, ordering him around. It feels like a burgeoning partnership. -The Den-Liner sets... I'd seen them before, in the OOO movie, and they are charmingly cheap. They are the most archaic Showa thing this show has in it, but it's so Let's Put On A Show whimsical that I don't have it in me to run them down. It'd be embarrassing, if it all weren't so goddamn energetic and heartfelt. I wish it were better designed, but like Momotaros, I'm going to ignore that wish. |
Den-O is the show that set the roadmap for Phase 2. I was just talking about this in regards to Wizard a few days ago, but the pre-Gaim (and some post-Gaim) shows very much follow a formula and that formula was developed in Den-O. I've spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what it is about the Den-O Formula that made the later shows feel so different than the earlier ones. I focused a lot on some of the details like the non-human partners (Momotaros, Ankh, Mr. Belt, etc.) or more aggressive comic relief, but I realized a few months ago what the main difference between the Den-O influenced shows and the early Heisei era is. It's about the structure.
Heisei Kamen Rider has always done two-part episodes. I assume it's easier for the production department to double down on stuff than to scout new locations and build new suits every single week. The big change that Den-O brought is how these episodes are focused. In earlier shows, the monster attack is usually the B plot while the A plot is some aspect of the ongoing story or the continuing character development (not always; sometimes the A plot is a wolf monster trying to steal a sweet new motorcycle). Look at Kabuto, for a recent example: the monster attacks in that show rarely even have stories. The average episode of Kabuto is all about the ongoing relationships between Tendou, Kagami, and Hiyori. Next to that we have some shenanigans with the Hoppers or Tsurugi. Meanwhile, some Worms are doing stuff that necessitates the action scenes. Den-O is the show that shifted the monster attacks to being the A plot. There is a person, that person is being stalked by a monster, the Kamen Rider gets involved in that person's story. Anything else - ongoing storylines, character development, changes in the status quo - those all happen off in the B plot. I find that the Den-O style shows tend to feel more episodic (or maybe bi-episodic?) then shows like Faiz or Kabuto where it felt like more elements carried across multiple episodes. It's not necessarily a bad change, but I generally like having the show be a bit more serialized. At best, the case of the fortnight format can work really well, like it does in W. At worst, it can feel like important elements get sidelined for awhile, like that stretch of Fourze where Kengo almost disappears because the show wants to spend all of its limited B plot time on Ryusei. |
With no new monsters in the second parts, I’ll be spending my posts for them discussing my thoughts on the show so far (at the point you’ve reached).
Ryotaro: I’m not quite as in love with him being vulnerable. Mostly because the guy after him hits a little closer to home for me. Momotaros: Honestly, I think the fact that he’s basically a would-be monster who ends up stuck in the hero role. The time travel: It’s mostly just a gimmick for the final battles. And since most of the victims are teens or young adults, they never really go anywhere interesting, beyond what Toei can do on the cheap. The DenLiner’s battle mode: I can certainly see why a lot of people back in the day (and a few today) thought this show was too much more like Super Sentai than Kamen Rider. Along with a few other things (for now, they only thing I’ll call attention to is the bad guys being suit-only characters voiced by Anime VAs). |
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Anyway, yeah, as Switchblade said, a whole lot of Rider shows would go on to crib Den-O's basic structure, and while I think I've made it abundantly clear by this point that I don't have an issue with the monster plots being... er, well, the bonus content in an episode, you might say, there's a cohesion to how Den-O handles things that I'm very much fond of. Like, a huge part of how much I love Wizard is simply how much comfort I find in the whole Phantom/Gate routine, for very similar reasons to what you laid out here. I never got tired of this formula the way a lot of people did because it just works for me so darn well. I adore when a Kamen Rider's chief motivation for an episode is as humble as helping one person. |
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Yeah, I think Den-O works well with this structure; I have no problems with it. Coming out of Kabuto, in particular, it's nice to see the monsters having more to do than just showing up out of nowhere to randomly rampage into the hero's path.
If I have any issue with the Den-O formula, it's that it does get repetitive when you get it several years in a row. And that's not Den-O's fault. |
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Funny thing is, as someone who feels the mechs are the least good part of Sentai? I tend to like a lot of Rider mechs. It's probably because since they're one product amongst many rather than the bread and butter of the line they're not as prominent and sink into the background more, making them feel more special when they do show up. And then you've got this case, the Den-Liner, where it's just an extension of the show's main setting and draw! Like... I dunno, the battles with the CGI Den-Liner aren't great, but I can't bring myself to dislike it. It's just kinda dumb and fun
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The bottom line is that it's good to see the Den-Liner play an active role in battles. It's one more way Den-O loops everything into everything else, so even though I was never a huge fan of the scenes themselves, I honestly deeply appreciate the decision to do them. The Den-Liner is a setting where emotions can happen, a tool that can drive the plot mechanically, and a weapon in the hero's arsenal during fights. That's seriously a great thing in my opinion. Really love the Den-Liner!
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FYI Momotaros is based off the Japanese folklore Momotaro(which translates to peach boy), a story of a boy born from a gigantic peach from who knows where that drifted down a stream and picked up by an elderly couple Kal-El style. Boy grew up and later being fed up with the oni trying to mess up their land he went, "Screw them onis, I'mma kick their arses." and went on an epic journey of asskicking towards Onigashima, an island where the onis dwelled. With the help of a dog, monkey, and a pheasant, Momotaro bumrushed the area, kicked some oni ass, got some loot, and lived happily ever after. That is the gist of it.
Design-wise momotaros is based off the oni from this story, while Den-O Sword Form is based off of Momotaro. The compound eyes symbolize the peach that split in two when Momotaro was born and the red chest armor is I believe is supposed to resemble the jinbaori that Momotaro is commonly known to wear in the story when illustrated or depicted in media. And that is also why when the Denliner goes guns blazing part of it transforms into a dog, monkey, and a pheasant. |
Also regarding Momotaros’ design is the fact that you can see “MOMO” written on him in various locations like the arms and legs
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There are much more legitimate life problems other than just being saved or not. The view of heroic being only about saving lives can be callous towards anyone's problems as long as they live and not get killed, and while obviously saving others is a good thing to happen, performing heroic deeds is much more than only that, saving is only a part of it, but neglecting the other part isn't complete heroic deeds; And regarding "saving people's lives", there's still some questions, like what if you save someone from immediate danger by plunging them into a different sort of danger without their prior consent? Or like, you harmed and/or violated a person in order to save him/her from danger? What I said is aimed to someone who thinks characters like ideal heroes such as Eiji or anti-heroes such as Kaito as exactly similarly heroic because limiting hero definition as just anyone that can actually save people in need and treating what they do it for (money, recognition, etc.) or any character flaws as something that doesn’t matter, as long as they can save people. Which means that definition only takes "save people" into account and applies to my lecture here, as in KR mostly anyone on protagonistic side regularly kill monsters that attack humans. Quote:
So you finally admit it here that "Japan's not doing great with youth counseling", from what I know before, you excuse the kid's behavior because of them being kids and "there are worse kids than those". And well yeah, a good number of kid is portrayed like that on media, not only Japan thing. Actually, if you excuse those behaviors and not reprimand them, that's the birth of a rotten individual when adult. I mean like, even if they're not threatening yet as a child, children of ruthless dictators are often even more twisted and psychotic than their parents. And like I said above, KR is not the only media to do this, and I think this is audience influence, but probably, for the petition to making sure that one person isn't living a life of fear and misery, the audience are too focused on a few media who shows terrible people taking advantage of a compassion (but also ignoring or dismissing the parts where gentler approach to emotionally-damaged people works out) to find it believable, and sticks to the belief that people can't change, and clings to the "efficient" solution to always put them down for good, like Tachibana's approach to Hajime. Quote:
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I don't think Hana being feisty comes off as a surprise anymore, considering franchise wide, KR includes people like Ozawa, Mari, Hirose, Akiko, Kiriko, Akari, Poppy, Misora, Mei. Also, you aren't ok if a male is being steered without autonomy too, even if it comes from a female? Anyways, yeah it's clearly not, don't know how there's a thought for ordering him around. Hana is completely generous and helpful to Ryotaro, it's much mroe than just burgeoning partnership, while in opposite, she's a hardass to Momotaros, walks a line with being abusive (though Momotaros deserved those for his morally ambiguous approach). There's a reason behind that, but that's spoilers. And Hana is a short for "Hanakuso Onna"!! |
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KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 3: "OUTLAW MOMOTARO"
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den3a.png https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den3b.png A fun episode about partnerships, and how they need balance and respect in order to be successful. I can 100% see why Kobayashi revisited the Ryotaro/Momotaros partnership in OOO with Eiji and Ankh. It's such a fun story to tell, with this Odd Couple energy being applied to tokusatsu extravagance. Ryotaro and Momotaros are forced together by fate and bad luck, and they need to find some way to control Momotaros' more... visceral needs against Ryotaro's sweeter nature. The friction of that is so compelling, and it gives this episode so much spark. I mean, not a ton going on in it otherwise? The stuff with Airi continues to be the same sort of distraction the cafe scenes were for most of Ryuki (and the DenLiner already has a meal car! You don't need two restaurant sets in one show!), where I'm not sure it's really telling us stuff we don't already know about Ryotaro. The weird inclusion of the Airimirers... I mean, I hope it's going somewhere, because right now I find it pretty dull. The big guest-star for the week (Sid from Gaim!) is another neat look-in at the concept of partnerships, where it's less about mutual respect than it is about leveraging someone else's skills for your benefit. Yamagoshi is a hilariously underachieving scumbag, and it's smart to follow up the tragedy of Tetsuo with an Imagin host who is maybe less sympathetic. (Although, yeah, there's that band photo I'm sure we'll come back to in the second part.) It's some nice variety in the types of stories you can tell with imagination monsters from the end of time who grant wishes. Yamagoshi's arc in this one, though... again, not a lot to it? It's funny, and it goes down smooth, but it's mostly just here to highlight how badly things are going between our ostensible heroes. I think a big part of the success of the Ryotaro/Momotaros story in this episode is down to how uninvested they both are in the series-arc stuff so far. There's no driving goal to either one of them, and that boredom is causing problems. It's a function of the show giving the weighty hero stuff to Hana, which is unbelievably smart. She's the motivating force, the one who is on a mission, with Ryotaro and Momotaros just sort of around? It allows them to be more inquisitive (like Ryotaro is with Owner here), which is great for exposition, but it also keeps them from getting too wrapped up in anything that'd drag down the show's fun. Ryotaro shows up when he's supposed to, but is mostly just going along with someone else's requests. Momotaros is just here to fight and finish his contract, and he's not concerned with anyone besides himself. They're in this story about imagination monsters from the end of time, but the story isn't really about them yet. That ambivalence to the Imagin invasion is key to everything falling apart for both Ryotaro and Momotaros. Momotaros is tired of being cooped up on the DenLiner and getting berated by Hana (when all he did was nearly destroy Ryotaro's muscles and bones!), so he jumps at the chance to take over Ryotaro's body and team up with Yamagoshi for gangster beat-ups and some light heisting. Meanwhile, Ryotaro is starting to resent being Momotaros' human hot rod, and he's treating Momotaros like more of a pest than he probably should. (I loved that, when Yamagoshi suggests ripping off the gangsters, Momotaros asks if his cut will be 9350 yen. I'm assuming that's the money he took from Ryotaro to pay for his new clothes, and it shows a level of guilt from Momotaros that he'd probably never express. It's a small touch, but a necessary one.) It's an episode about these two characters, Ryotaro and Momotaros, needing to understand what they both bring to the table, and needing to understand why they're even at that table. As it is, you've got a monster who's sick of being treated like an unwelcome roommate, and a man who's sick of feeling like an obstacle. Going to be interesting to see how the two of them figure out how to work together! https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/deno/den3c.png THE BAGGAGE CAR -Hana's so good in this one. Another actor would maybe come off as nagging, where she's being too cruel to Momotaros, but he both totally deserves it (there is no sense of personal space when it comes to him and Ryotaro) and never seems too offended by her anger. The shot of Momotaros getting caught by Hana, going "The nosy girl!", and then immediately getting punched in the face... fantastic. The beat of her realizing she actually just punched Ryotaro's face is a super funny button. Of all the relationships in this show so far, the one I'm most here for is Hana/Momotaros. -The sound design changes up with this episode, as MomoRyotaros, the Momotaro-possessed form of Ryotaro, drops the Momotaros VA from a lot of the performance in favor of Ryotaro's actor just changing his voice. I massively prefer it. I didn't mind it the other way (which still gets used for fight scenes and the like), but I love the confidence of the show trusting in the actor's performance to sell the changing circumstances. -There's another dude on the DenLiner! He would not like a coffee to go! I'm assuming it's the same guy we saw briefly at the end of Episode 2, but either way: certainly more to come on that thread. -I 1000% do not care about the Airimirers. At least there's only two of them now, hovering around a disinterested-but-polite Airi. Maybe in another couple episodes there'll be zero! -The Owner scene is great, if only for the adventure-genre message of Please Don't Sweat The Details Right Now. It's asking the audience to put character ahead of plot, and that's completely my taste in Kamen Rider. I appreciate his outlook on storytelling! |
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Anyway, enough preamble. Time for my regular feature, discussing the credits of the Chameleon Imagin’s VA (a bat and a chameleon. Where’ve I seen those motifs before?) Jun’ichi Kanemaru Notable Anime roles: Kukan Sugoroku in Dragon Ball GT, Sonic the Hedehog in Sonic X (and all video games and Wreck-It Ralph movie dubs since 1998), Harley in Pokémon Advanced Generation. Notable Dubbing roles: Swiper in Dora the Explorer, Henry in Thomas and Friends, Riff in West Side Story |
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I'm pretty certain that stopwatch guy isn't the same guy as random Den-Liner passenger guy? They've got similar taste in coats, for sure, but passenger guy isn't hiding his face under a cool hat, you'll notice. I believe he's a random extra only there to reinforce for the viewer that the Den-Liner serves a function in-universe that isn't 100% directly related to heroic adventuring. Like, they do in fact have passengers sometimes, you just don't always see them.
Getting to hear Takeru Satoh's actual voice for Momotaros is a great showing of how talented he really is as an actor. Like, he mostly still just sounds like Momotaros, even though he literally doesn't? He's playing two different very exaggerated characters, and makes both of them very believable. I've always been especially fond of the very specific whispery tone Ryoutarou speaks in for how much it instantly tells you about his personality. Oh, and while the subject of the episode titles, Den-O marks the point where Rider consistently starting caring about them again after half of a decade of Takatera apparently being the only one at Toei who thought they were important to have in the episodes. As I've mentioned before, I think titles can hold a lot of value to a story, so this is one more trend I'm grateful that Den-O set in motion. There's no specific scheme or pattern to Den-O's titles that I'm aware of, but there's a sort of overall tone conveyed by them that I love, even though I can't even begin to describe what I mean by that. |
Yes, that is Sid himself, Mr. Kazuki Namioka, who became prominent in toku as Dark Knight in Genseishin Justiriser first and then went on to appear as the lead role Shishimaru in Lionmaru G, a reboot of a classic obscure toku hero show from back in the days. It was after that show we see him in this show as guitar guy for this ep.
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One of the things that I like about this episode is that it shows the wear and tear that being Den-O puts onto Ryotaro. Really adds a nice touch of down-to-earthiness to the show about genies from the future possessing people to wreak havoc in the past.
Interesting to hear that using Takeru Satoh's own voice was an error. I'd always assumed that the shifting between different styles for the possessed Ryotaro's voice was more of the showing trying out different options before settling on the one that it eventually ends up with. |
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It's some really fluid story construction, along with everything else about it. |
oh hey it's my first Rider series
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Those two characters are my favourites in the show. I have mixed feelings overall about the show as a whole, but I can't bring myself to be mean as it has some wonderful and fun character moments, and in every episode it feels like the cast are giving it one hundred and ten per cent. I'm super glad you're getting the chance to sit down and watch this one! |
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The Phase 1 Heisei stuff... there's been a lot in there I've loved (and Faiz is probably in my Top 3 all-time), but it's all stuff I've had to force myself to watch. Or, not force maybe, but... they're series that have aesthetics and tones that are not why I started watching Kamen Rider. Approaching those pre-W shows was more about my own curiosity, or my need to feel like I'm prepared for Zi-O. (Anniversary shows aren't really that much fun unless you get the references!) I've across-the-board found things to like in them, but it's sometimes taken work. Den-O, though? Man, this type of show is why I started watching Kamen Rider. It's so funny, and generous, and kinetic, and colorful, and loopy, and and and. I like the challenge of trying to dig into a difficult show, to find the core of it that works, but it's also nice to just watch something fun that's on your wavelength. Other shows have sometimes felt like I'm in a debate with the showrunner, sparring over tone and theme and plot; with Den-O, it's like hanging out with a friend and cracking each other up. |
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