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03-12-2024, 08:39 PM | #391 |
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That being said I did love the twist that the Shotaro we first see in the delusion was actually Gene. When he got all scary looking I was caught off guard and then suddenly, there's a Shotaro behind the desk and next thing you know, Gene! Really clever usage of the Dopant Suit this time around honestly.
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03-12-2024, 10:28 PM | #392 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE ? - “A BOWL OF α - FAREWELL TO THE RECIPE OF LOVE”
I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but the weirdest part of this HBV is how easily you could slot it into the regular series without making basically any alterations. Like, I think this special is actually less weird than the last two-parter? The biggest HBV flight of fancy is the Iron Chef riff in the middle, and that’s less strange than both a seven-hour Dopant-directed fantasy film, as well as all of Team Double (and several cops!) dropping everything to make an amateur film as a form of drug rehabilitation. What’s here is, frankly, a fairly standard – if brief – W adventure. Someone in Fuuto is in trouble, Shotaro and the gang suss it out, a Dopant fight, some hope for the perp, closeout gag, credits. This thing is basically the template for all of W. Which isn’t so bad? If it keeps from ever going as enticingly off-the-rails as the best HBVs (Faiz, Zi-O, lemme know which other ones I’ve forgotten), at least it all feels like a legit W Double adventure, that might as well be canon. It’s actually one of the stronger recent cases, because it goes back to the strength of the show’s beginning: this is small-stakes stuff that is so intrinsically Fuuto that it’s worth the time of our heroes. Shotaro’s look of determination when he vows to bring the villains behind the Fuu-Men cart’s destruction to justice? That’s as invested in a case as I’ve seen that dude in a minute. But the heart of this thing for a lot of folks is probably the Iron Chef sequence, which is good, if maybe a little overlong. It’s trying so hard to ape that cooking competition's approach that it kind of forgets to be weird, and settles for being characterful. The three chefs are exactly how you’d expect – Akiko is clever, Terui is efficient, and Shotaro is so committed to his cosplay detective aesthetic that he forgets to make an edible meal, but in a sort of charming way. It’s a cute bit, if maybe a little too into its homage. As a result, what might’ve been a bizarre pseudo-canonical entry for another series is a fairly on-point W mystery. Not sure if that’s good or bad, but it sure was surprising.
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03-12-2024, 10:37 PM | #393 |
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Honestly I had the same vibe when watching this. W already shines best whenver it's light and comedic, so a Hyper Battle Video kind of just ends up fitting in almost too naturally? It's really crazy!
It felt like they decided "let's make a normal case take under 17 minutes" and they succeeded. The fact that the end of the video is also a preview stylized like the usual next episode previews also helps make it feel like it just belongs as a standard episode. I'll be honest I entirely forgot about the Iron Chef sequence. The most I remember is the Donburi Dopant who somehow has a dual Gaia Memory (Egg/Chicken). But revisiting that Iron Chef sequence was fun to witness as a foodie. I also like how Shotaro while clearly not having the best dish, still got most of it right, since the only real issue was he just somehow made eggs of freaking steel. While I wouldn't say it's one of the best, it's definitely a solid HBV and an entertaining time that makes good use of W's aesthetic. |
03-13-2024, 06:05 AM | #394 |
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I see Shotaro?s obsession with being super hard boiled extends to his eggs. I imagine it?s more edible than Airi?s stews, Naomi?s coffee and Evolto?s coffee.
Also, the Master of Fumen debuts here, and goes on to make quite a few appearances throughout the franchise, as late as Heisei Generations Forever, primarily because he?s played by an assistant producer at Toei, so availability isn?t an issue. Speaking of other appearances: Sentai-lert! Another voice only example with the Frog Pod, who for the purposes of this gains the voice of Shinichiro Ohta, who was the ?robot voice? for GoGo Sentai Boukenger (the one early to mid 2000s Sentai that W?s producer wasn?t involved with). He also did the fight narration for Decade?s World of Ryuki episodes and the Super Sentai Strongest Battle miniseries (which is basically the tournament from Chou Super Hero Taisen, complete with the host rigging it so the world will be destroyed, but with pure Sentai) Last edited by Androzani84; 03-13-2024 at 06:30 PM.. |
03-13-2024, 06:15 AM | #395 |
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Looks good. Never tried pickled mustard leaves, which is apparently the cyclone side, but dried seaweed, salmon roe, salmon flakes, and radish sounds a-okay in my book for a donburi. It could use a small chunk of wasabi and a tablespoon of soy sauce, probably. And a small bowl of miso soup and a packet of natto.
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Last edited by Sunred; 03-13-2024 at 06:21 AM.. |
03-13-2024, 03:19 PM | #396 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 40 - “THE LIKELIHOOD OF G - I CAN’T FORGIVE YOU”
Real low-point of the series, for how little I cared about what was happening in about 80% of this episode. 20% was fun, though! The amateur film stuff was cute – nice gags with our backgrounded cast, at least. Tooru’s ability to come out of his shell and be honest with people was a fine, light story to tell, and it’s application to Philip’s feigned indifference to the fate of Wakana was solid. It was good to see the series try and reframe Wakana’s ridiculous characterization as irrelevant, because the crux of the issue is that Philip believes in a version of her that no one else sees, even her, so he’s going to fight for her redemption. Him ignoring her overt villainy to argue for a version of their relationship that he wants back… that’s good. That’s something to hold onto. Quote:
I guess that’s what we’re landing on with Wakana’s motivation now? She’s gone Memory Mad, and that’s rendered her irredeemably evil? I never really liked it before – it’s the rationalization for a bunch of character arcs that flip from Sympathetic to They Are Crazy And Evil between scenes – and while it’s at least a comprehensible explanation for an almost brand-new version of a core character, it’s also the most boring possible explanation. It makes Wakana totally one-dimensional, as evidenced in the best scene in the episode – the Akiko Yells scene.
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It’s one character cutting through frustrating character portrayals and just screaming WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU – the, like, double-boiled alternative to Shotaro’s sympathetic half-boiled approach. And she’s right to do it! They tried kid gloves with Tooru, and he just regressed further. Maybe letting him know that he won’t be coddled forever will get him to come out of his shell. And Wakana! Nothing Wakana’s doing right now makes any sense, and her response is to basically go BUT POWER THO. It’s the moment in her arc that should’ve been illustrative, if not compelling – she can tell Akiko what’s going on her head because she’s just become an all-powerful goddess/tyrant that is going to murder Akiko. But the show whiffs on yet another moment to make Wakana feel as complex as she used to, opting instead for boilerplate mania and unconvincing inhumanity.
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The whole Wakana Has Memory Madness problem for me is that it makes the worst parts of previous Dopant story endings into an entire A-plot for this episode. She’s just Insane With Power, and that’s boring to think about. Why? To do what? Because of what? And then what? It’s a journey made into a goal, and it’s so empty and boring, you guys. I don’t care. I don’t care about what she’s doing at all.
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Luckily (and I can’t believe how much this one character is salvaging the Sonozaki side of things for me like an MVP) Saeko is here to be both complex and coherent. She’s sacrificed almost everything for a family that threw her away, and she’s excited to show them what they thought was worthless. Her randomly showing up to heckle Wakana as a red Nazca? Perfect. Her goal is clear – humiliate her former family – and also fun to watch. It’s the best part of anything to do with the Sonozakis this episode (besides the chapel where it rains rose petals???), and the actor kills in every scene she’s in. Her “I’m going for a walk” line to Kazu… iconic. Love her, love this part of the show, almost can’t believe this one show is writing for both Sonozaki sisters.
It's quite silly-looking though ability's the real deal, I do think regular Claydoll is silly looking anyway. The Xtreme naming for Claydoll, I guess that's setting up Wakana's set up as Phillip's counterpart? If it's the case probably it comes from how both of them are only more comfortable and relaxed around each other before, and that now Wakana also can visit Gaia Library, but still don't get much what'd be the contrasting part of them other than what side they're fighting. The Xtreme name in W's case comes from how X is the letter after W though, signifying the next level (in next letter), with the katakana ekusutorimu containing 'tori', which is the word for bird, and how the Xtreme Memory is shaped, and the weapon Prism Bicker is 2-in-1 just like the Rider.
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03-13-2024, 06:06 PM | #397 |
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Looks good. Never tried pickled mustard leaves, which is apparently the cyclone side, but dried seaweed, salmon roe, salmon flakes, and radish sounds a-okay in my book for a donburi. It could use a small chunk of wasabi and a tablespoon of soy sauce, probably. And a small bowl of miso soup and a packet of natto.
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The Xtreme naming for Claydoll, I guess that's setting up Wakana's set up as Phillip's counterpart? If it's the case probably it comes from how both of them are only more comfortable and relaxed around each other before, and that now Wakana also can visit Gaia Library, but still don't get much what'd be the contrasting part of them other than what side they're fighting.
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03-13-2024, 06:21 PM | #398 |
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MORE PROOF FOR THE GREEN EYE! Anywho, I'm not really sure I'm getting the same level of disparity from this as you are? Because, from my perspective, for as crazy as they can get sometimes(like Ghost's'), nearly all of the HBVs are canon(like Ghost's'!). Heck, nowadays they're often too important to the narrative, thus making them kind of annoying(like Build's'). So one that's just fun like this? I'm down. I did really like how the approach to this whole thing was basically a speedrun of your average W two-parter, making for not only a fun bonus episode but also a good way of advertising the show to people who might've just gotten the issue of Telebi-kun that the DVD came with on a whim. It's a smart way of appealing to both fans and "common folk" I think. But yeah, it's not my favorite HBV, but it's a fun one.
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03-13-2024, 06:57 PM | #399 |
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This one apparently is pretty much a chicken donburi with standout ingredients mainly being broccoli, ketchup, potatoes, and paprika according to my findings. Can't go wrong with this one too from the looks of it. Nah, they should've colored the broccoli, a shame this is incomplete. Side note, if you leave the lower diagonal pieces of the chicken but get rid of the rest (or eat it) and then flip it 180 degrees it becomes a Wild Chalice Don.
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Last edited by Sunred; 03-13-2024 at 07:23 PM.. |
03-13-2024, 09:56 PM | #400 |
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Because, from my perspective, for as crazy as they can get sometimes(like Ghost's'), nearly all of the HBVs are canon(like Ghost's'!). Heck, nowadays they're often too important to the narrative, thus making them kind of annoying(like Build's'). So one that's just fun like this? I'm down.
It does look pretty good!
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