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Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Kiva
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06-19-2021, 08:45 PM
#
626
Kamen Rider Die
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 34 - "NOISE: MELODY OF DESTRUCTION”
This episode, despite being incredibly tight thematically, felt like it was spreading itself too thin. There's a lot going on right now in Kiva, from character returns to shocking reveals to diabolical schemes to heartache to whatever else I forgot to mention. With so many things to address, it makes for an episode that doesn't really tell a memorable story.
The smartest thing it does is focus in on Wataru's problems, and then reexamine those issues through different characters. It makes sure that Wataru is central to every story, even the ones he doesn't really interact with. It feels like this is
his
show, which has frequently been a problem.
Wataru is putting on a brave face regarding his recent break-up with Mio, and it's as funny as it is phony. He bakes himself a cake to celebrate another milestone on the way to adulthood, which is honestly enviably mature, but then he shrugs off Kivat's reminder of Mio's dedication with an Oh She Was Just Lying To Spare My Feelings, the sort of complete misinterpretation that tells us that Wataru is in really bad shape. I mean,
he throws a party to celebrate getting dumped!
There's seeing the bright side, and then there's
this
lunacy. (Like, the fact that
Nago
thinks this is a good idea should be a huge warning sign!) It's admirable that Wataru would try to make lemonade out of Doomed Romance lemons, but he's so clearly repressing his real feelings that it all comes off as cringe comedy. Still funny! But, like, funny because he is being incredibly weird.
From there, he lets Taiga try to cheer him up by... spending an afternoon on an amusement park outing with him and Mio. It's my favorite recurring gag on this show right now, Taiga trying to be a good guy to people he is emotionally atomizing. (When he's on his lunch date with Mio and is like It's So Cool To See You Love Me Like I Love You, while she's a second away from sobbing her eyes out? Hilarious!) Mio tries yet again to let Wataru know that she prefers him to Taiga, but Wataru is quick to deflect it, talk up Taiga, and then act like everything is going great.
It's a plotline that culminates with Wataru literally trying to drown his anger and sadness in the bath, a repression so painful and self-destructive that Bloody Rose cracks under the strain. In an episode where not a ton stuck in my brain, that shot of Bloody Rose bearing the physical manifestation of Wataru's emotional damage was something special. It's misinterpreted yet again by Wataru, thinking it happened because he couldn't force himself to be happy enough for his heartache and isolation.
It's sort of the flipside to what Wataru's talking about in the beginning. He's proud of his loss, since that's a part of growing up. But the
point
of your first heartbreak isn't to tick it off of a list. It's not
that
experience that's valuable. It's what you do with that pain, how you acknowledge it and grow from it. Wataru definitely hasn't acknowledged it. He's acting cheerful when he wants to scream, and it's making everything worse.
We get to see flashes of Wataru's pain across a couple other different plots, some that get more attention than others.
Mio's and Yuri's are the bigger ones, with Mio suffering under the yoke of Queendom, and Yuri suffering under the yoke of cuckqueandom. The Yuri story is
zero percent subtle
, just scene after scene of Yuri sitting in the dining room while her boyfriend and a supernaturally-gorgeous supernatural executioner make the most erotic musical instrument 1980s Japan had to offer. Mio's stuff is equally repetitive, with her looking for outs and getting nothing. She
does
schedule a meeting with Maya, however, and I'm very much looking forward to whether or not they can see eye-to-eye.
The other big Brave Face storyline is KENGO!
Kengo's
back! And he's basically Snipe from Ex-Aid! Which is another way of saying he's no longer Here To Make Friends! There's really not much more to Kengo's story this time than his shocking reappearance, violent attitude, and militaristic makeover, but it's still a hell of a return. Beyond the questionable timeline (so Kengo became a brutally-efficient operative for W.A.K.E.U.P. after a
month
of training?), I really don't mind the changes the show made to Kengo. There'll always be a place in my heart for the very sweet and supportive friendship he had with Wataru, but this
is
an Inoue show. I am not going to be mad at Kengo returning as a bloodthirsty asshole hiding his desperate need to make friends, especially if it makes me think of Snipe. Hard to call it an improvement, but I don't mind it as a substitution.
All that, and I didn't even touch on Bishop's interest in Wataru, Taiga's interest in Kiva, or the Super Fangire being created by a former W.A.K.E.U.P. scientist. It's an overstuffed episode! It's still got a solid thematic core, but it's got a few too many plates spinning right now.
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Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 10-02-2023 at
10:32 PM
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