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05-17-2021, 09:58 AM | #201 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Honestly, the little subtle nuance that IXA’s victims don’t release the same puffs of light that Kiva has a castle used almost entirely to store (which an enterprising birdy tells me is the Fangire’s soul) kind of makes for a subtle statement on the difference in power between Wataru and Nago.
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05-17-2021, 11:02 AM | #202 |
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Ixa pushes that whole motif so far too, with things I've always loved like the face that evokes a cross; and things I only just found out about that I wish I had known sooner, like how the silver design on his chest is representing a mirror, because he's fighting vampires. Like, Ixa is the holy light, exposing the truth of these sinful creatures! ...or something. And then apparently his index fingers are black instead of white because they've been stained by having to bear the weight of pulling a trigger? It's all trying so hard, and it's so, so appropriate for everything that makes Nago who he is.
(Also I like it when the visor does the thing. That part is neat too.)
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05-17-2021, 12:39 PM | #203 |
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Huh! I've only heard it the one time, and I can't say it bothered me. I will be sure to pay more attention in the next episode!
(Also, I don't know that I consider the Fourze Driver's voice "cool"? It's adorkable, maybe. I love that whole RoCkEt oN thing, but it's mostly for how goofy it is. It always felt very... DIY, befitting the afterschool project-nature of the KRC. Not cool, but, like, charming.) Quote:
KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 10 - “SABRE DANCE: GLASSY MELODY”
He can also connect with Oomura as an artist, and it’s here that the episode made me a believer again in Otoya. The last few episodes have been all Creep Otoya, and no Sensitive Otoya. Here, outside the harassment of Yuri and the rivalry with Zanki, Otoya’s free to talk about art with another artist, and you can see how that humanizes him. He’s contemplative, quiet. When he goes to smash the Black Star, to end Oomura’s rampage for good, he can’t do it. The violin is innocent, and it deserves to exist. It’s Otoya finding the heart of a thing, seeing past its reputation for its actions, and finding something to cherish. His son would make the same decision 22 years later, and that thread is what this show does best. Getting to see the ways Wataru’s positive qualities were handed down from his father, that the connection Wataru is always reaching for was already in his grasp… it’s like Oomura’s lesson about Wataru’s violin-making. When this show tells this kind of story, one only it can tell, it’s outstanding. It is sublime, it is smart, it is moving.
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05-17-2021, 01:35 PM | #204 |
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[QUOTE=Kamen Rider Die;800677]I would say that I agree with them! For the most part, the objections people seem to have to Otoya's character aren't just that he's awful; it's that he's awful AND we're supposed to be invested in him and Yuri. The show has spent a lot of time with Otoya trying to win over Yuri, and it's also spent some time showing a gentler, better side to Otoya. You can argue that the show shouldn't be forcing that pairing, but you can't argue that the show isn't investing in it.
That's the thing that actually earns Otoya a designated hero trait, because while you said, the show spent some time showing a gentler, better side of him, his good qualities perk up few and far in-between each other. How the show handles its showing of Otoya's gentler, better side can be the exact reason for those objecting. Quote:
KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 10 - “SABRE DANCE: GLASSY MELODY”
Wataru’s relationship with Oomura doesn’t really change after he learns that Oomura’s a Fangire, which is the perfect choice. When you’ve got one Rider like Nago who is Always Certain (he screams that he’s always right and never wrong as he’s storming out of a lunch with Wataru, totally normal thing that every sane person does, it’s the new See You Later), the opposing force is to Ask Questions. When Wataru sees a person he respects turn into a giant frog (with pink buttcheeks), he’s going to let them tell their side of the story. Oomura didn’t stop being a Guest Dad just because he’s a monster. Wataru’s heroic enough to see people for their actions, not their reputation. Quote:
Nago, of course, gets the final blow on the Frog Fangire. Kiva was never going to take him out, and we ain’t at the point in Heisei where guest-star monsters get to go make art in peace. (Cubi! I hope you come back for that Ghost/Saber thing!) That just left IXA. (Also, this is the IXA introduction story, so it was always going to end with IXA killing Oomura. Always.) The whole IXA Calibur (yeah, I got it) Rise Up thing was amazing, IXA using the power of the sun to defeat his adversary. It’s the obvious flip on the eclipse finishers Kiva uses, but it’s also so classically Nago: a nuclear furnace of unstoppable force, washing out shadows and nuance, blinding in its horrifying intensity. Kiva is all moonlight and serenity; IXA is all sunlight and force. It’s a great showcase for IXA, and as demoralizing as you’d assume a Nago Wins finish was going to look like.
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It’s Otoya who comes out the best in this episode, which is why I’m talking about him last. After this, there’s no higher point to end on. It’s an episode that redeems Otoya by taking him away from his worst impulses (Yuri; still had a killer comedic scene with her in the beginning, absolutely great rapid-fire jokes, he asks her if she thinks he looks like a liar and she goes Of Course and he goes Fair) and letting him focus on his craft. It’s that mirror to Oomura’s story that I really respected, where they’re both men that want to be artists, but they keep getting in their own way. I think Otoya is self-aware enough to see that parallel, his own womanizing and Oomura’s possessiveness for the Black Star, and how those things keep them from being their best selves. Otoya can sympathize with Oomura as a man with weaknesses.
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05-17-2021, 01:59 PM | #205 |
I have a problematic type
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Got a bit too busy this weekend to really talk about 9, so let me just combine my thoughts here.
Really liked this two-parter. It reminded me a lot of Faiz, in good ways. Not just because Murakami was the Fangire-of-the-fortnight, but because the whole concept of his story about wanting to live a normal life while dealing with his monstrous impulses is literally Faiz's thesis statement. The ending, with Oomura's fragments drifting by the violin, is classic Inoue pathos at its best. This is the kind of stuff that I like from this show, especially with how it manages to find some redeeming traits in Otoya and comes perilously close to actually motivating Wataru to be more assertive. Excellent stuff. Also a big fan of Ixa, design-wise. I tend to prefer the close-visored Save mode over the open-face Burst mode, but either way it's a crisp design with a really strong holy warrior aesthetic that fits both the monster hunting theme of the season and Nago's specific brand of Lawful Stupid dickishness. I also just adore how badly the Ixa belt over-pronounces every single syllable of a word and then tosses a few more in for good measure. |
05-17-2021, 06:39 PM | #206 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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This adds new context to Oomura's line to Wataru encouraging him to make his own violin, since Otoya's reason for declining possession of Black Star taught him that masterpieces should be celebrated for their uniqueness. Otoya was destined to create his own violin, the Bloody Rose. His inspiration gave Oomura a desire to change to stop being a monster, which allows him to sympathize with Wataru who wants to change to become a stronger person. Even though he dies tragically and wasn't able to keep his promise to Otoya, his legacy passes on that inspiration to Wataru across 22 years, to do what he couldn't.
I don't know. I thought the Otoya/Oomura conversation was really intriguing, what those two guys were saying about their relationship to art. Quote:
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Really liked this two-parter. It reminded me a lot of Faiz, in good ways. Not just because Murakami was the Fangire-of-the-fortnight, but because the whole concept of his story about wanting to live a normal life while dealing with his monstrous impulses is literally Faiz's thesis statement. The ending, with Oomura's fragments drifting by the violin, is classic Inoue pathos at its best. This is the kind of stuff that I like from this show, especially with how it manages to find some redeeming traits in Otoya and comes perilously close to actually motivating Wataru to be more assertive. Excellent stuff.
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05-17-2021, 06:47 PM | #207 |
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I only just realized I could have used the Murakami connection to make a witty joke about these episodes being the best of the best, but now my timing is so late I just feel like the lowest of the low.
I'll have to cheer myself up by pointing out 9/10 were directed by Ishida even though Die was too busy gushing about Inoue's writing to give me the usual easy segue.
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05-17-2021, 07:02 PM | #208 |
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I was gonna say something here about how Tendou would never kill a monster trying to redeem themself, but then I remembered, no he totally did do that.
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05-17-2021, 07:03 PM | #209 |
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All of the shots in the Kurenai workshop are shot to enforce the connections of characters. It's a tiny place, and characters are frequently on opposite sides of a table, but Ishida keeps angling the camera to catch Oomura beaming at Wataru, or Otoya contemplating Oomura's fate. (My absolute favorite acting move in an episode of A+ Otoya acting was the switch that gets flipped once he decides to spare Oomura. He's already going to do it; he can't leave this sensitive soul to get devoured by Zanki. But he goes from Art Is A Soothing Influence to completely theatrical as he's getting up out of his chair. By the time he's standing up, he's throwing his arms around and painting himself as a saintly hero. Otoya will only let himself be so authentic!) It's a weird couple episodes, because besides some great scenes (all of the workshop stuff, the Mal d'Amour comedy stuff from the beginning of 10), I don't think I was really paying attention to the directing. A lot of that is, like, the directing didn't need to fix anything; it just needed to communicate what the story was saying. The writing was terrific, the acting was exceptional (no small thanks to the director, though), there was a cool new Rider... yeah, this one didn't need to show off a lot to make for a good couple episodes.
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05-17-2021, 07:05 PM | #210 |
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??? When? I don't think Tendou would ever do anything like that. I mean, he was kind enough to pay for Tsurugi's ticket back to France! He's a hero!
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