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Thread
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Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Zi-O
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03-10-2022, 10:28 PM
#
25
Switchblade
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,420
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Kamen Rider Die
But Sougo? I can?t get a handle on him, as a character? Not even as a protagonist or a hero or a lead, but as a
character
. He wants to be a king, but like, as a career? That?s
ludicrous
. I?ve seen plenty of ridiculous motivations in Kamen Rider (and I love Tsurugi, who is a preposterous bundle of Bizarre Achievements in an ascot), but this is beyond the pale. You cannot
study
to become a king. You can?t fill out an
application
to be a monarch.
There isn?t a good school to major in the regency arts.
It?s the sort of stupid, stupid motivation that I normally adore, because the thought process behind it is usually so specific and bonkers that I am enthralled. Tsurugi?s quest to be the Best At Besting is drawn from his traumas, his desires, his isolation, his responsibilities, his etc. But Sougo wants to be a king? because it seemed like a good idea?
As a defining trait goes, it?s
terrible
. It?s an absence of definition for his character. It?s generic: I Want This instead of I Want This
Because
. There?s room in the episode for it to be
purposefully
generic, certainly. The overriding feeling of the episode is that of inevitability, that Sougo couldn't ever become anything other than the King Of Time(pieces), and that outcome has trickled backward to his present. But it?s never portrayed as a burning drive, or a path he can?t veer away from. It?s portrayed as perfunctory; a concept as necessary for reflection and analysis as blinking. Becoming king ? something
utterly ridiculous
? is treated as an autonomic process.
It is a crucial mistake in the introduction of Sougo, and it?s, sadly, only the
first
crucial mistake this episode makes.
The second one is in the way this episode never really pushes back on Sougo?s motivation? His friends and family (an uncle, since it?s Heisei Phase 2 and All Dads Are Dead) shrug it off as some quirk, like Takumi?s dislike of hot foods in Faiz, rather than an absolutely terrifying life choice for a teenager to be making. When someone says that they don?t want to take college entrance exams because they?re going to be a king,
that?s bad!
That isn?t a life choice! That is them throwing their life away! You don?t follow up that declaration with a cute anecdote about not letting chances pass you by! You follow that up with
an intervention!
Wow.
So, I have a number of issues with Zi-O that I'll be addressing in the coming days and weeks but so far you have managed to absolutely nail one of the big ones right on the head. I'm very much of the same opinion as you here: Sougo's whole king obsession is the bad kind of ridiculous. His basic misunderstanding of how a monarchy works and treating it like any other job that one can apply for makes him come across as a moron. The fact that he ignores any and all legitimate criticism of his plan just makes it worse. I don't need every hero to be super cool and confident, but I feel like Sougo probably shouldn't be trusted to use scissors without supervision and that is a bad look for our protagonist.
I think we'll get to what is probably my most persistent complaint about Zi-O with the next episode, I think (longtime Tokunation readers may guess what it is), but I'll also throw this bucket of water on the premiere: the first episode's pacing is nuts. I've always felt that this episode has about two episodes' worth of plot crammed into it. That sounds like it shouldn't work and it doesn't. I know it was probably easier and cheaper to throw Sento and Banjou into the first arc since they and the Build sets were still available, but saving them until episode two or three would have really helped give the new characters and concepts a chance to breathe before the tributes start.
Quote:
THAT SAID! I
completely
don?t understand how you have two characters in a story about where their names come from that are named ?Woz? and ?Gates? and
you don?t even mention the founders of Apple Computers
.
...
Fuck me, Zi-O has existed for three years; how am I just realizing this now?
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