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07-02-2021, 01:49 PM | #741 |
I have a problematic type
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I'm finding it a bit hard to find a single word to describe my thoughts on this part of Kiva. I think it's a really dumb story, but I also find it to be more amusingly stupid than irritatingly stupid. Long-time Tokunation members may recall multiple instances in the past where I've called Wataru my least favorite Kamen Rider and my rationale has always been that he spent more time sulking in his bathtub than he did being a hero. Now, I'll admit that this is the first time I've watched the show since 2009, so my memory of it is not fully accurate. That said, this storyline has always been the one that I consider to be peak Wataru in terms of being a sulky emo bath boy.
I'll admit that the episode was still kind of fun. Again, it's nice to see Otoya acting more like himself again and I'm always down for Yuri taking control of her life and what's best for herself. I'm still not past how incredibly dumb and myopic Wataru's whole "my girlfriend is dead, time to abort myself from history" plan here is, though. |
07-02-2021, 01:54 PM | #742 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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I'll admit that the episode was still kind of fun. Again, it's nice to see Otoya acting more like himself again and I'm always down for Yuri taking control of her life and what's best for herself. I'm still not past how incredibly dumb and myopic Wataru's whole "my girlfriend is dead, time to abort myself from history" plan here is, though.
Hilarious. Amazing.
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07-02-2021, 05:32 PM | #743 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Back to single picks this time, with the music used for the recap in this one. It's actually a theme for Bishop, and it's got a sort of pompous sound that fits him like a glove. Only about a third of this track is actually used in the episode though, and I don't remember catching it anywhere else as I was going through the show, let alone in a scene with Bishop? Kinda sad to think anything in Kiva's soundtrack would get used so little, assuming I didn't just miss some scene somewhere, but hey, that's part of why I'm highlighting this stuff.
As for the episode... Yeah, sounds about right. I'm gonna say right now, I think "Wataru tries to literally erase his entire existence from history" was the maybe the most perfect possible choice as a climactic arc for Wataru? Calling it "his Final Form of running away" sums it up pretty nicely. It's like all of his worst impulses concentrated at the worst possible moment into this totally insane plan, that's also deeply depressing when you consider the implications of what Wataru must feeling inside to even entertain the concept for more than a second. The show puts Wataru's self-esteem at absolute rock bottom... and yet it also makes it hilarious? It's such a wild swing, having Wataru just walk in on Otoya and Yuri at the start impersonating a doctor less than a minute after a recap of like the most tragic thing that ever happened in the show, and it's one of those things I have to commend Inoue for, because most writers probably aren't crazy enough to try making that turn. But then like, it legitimately snaps the show right back into a more bouncy and fun tone? While still having the plot itself make a ton of sense thematically and function completely as a logical (well, "logical") next step in the story? It's completely insane, and I kinda love it. It was another plot I knew happened before I even watched the show (along with Mio's death; I've seen Wataru get made fun of for this absurd overcorrection a lot), and I remember being surprised how agreeable it all felt. Like, Jirou just throws him in the magic time portal and Wataru's broken heart takes over from there – he's going to make some bad decisions! (And going back to the episode, "2人がラブラブになっちゃったら、僕が生まれちゃうんです" is maybe one of the funniest sentences I've ever heard in my life? It's Wataru's explanation of why he can't allow Otoya and Maya to be together, since I know I'm not making that obvious, but that because it's very specifically the exact wording choices in Japanese that make it so funny to me. It's like every single part of that sentence was precisely crafted to sound both as silly and as pathetic as possible, and it's how you know Inoue was in on the joke with this plot.) Another thing I vividly remember from this episode for some reason is Wataru's transformation when he's protecting Maya? Right down to that swing set being there? I think it was probably because it was the first time you get to see Kiva Form in a few episodes, and it was also the scene where I recall registering how much I really liked Emperor Form's BGM... which explains why I didn't realize it was Emperor Form's BGM for so long. Funnily enough, I believe this is also the last time you see Wataru turn into Kiva Form at all in the show, so I guess I'm glad I savored it while I could! ...Oh, and about that defense I failed to mount earlier? Well, yeah, she absolutely did, and that's kinda the whole point of that story? Mio was a character who, arguably more than anyone else in the show, was torn between the two worlds Wataru and Taiga represent. She had a normal life she wanted to live alongside the cute boy she liked on one hand, and the burden of a fate she never asked for on the other. That unwanted duty of being the Fangire Queen ate away at Mio constantly, even pushing her thinking into some pretty dark places as she attempted to find some way to make peace with the idea, but she was never able to firmly commit to either side, and ultimately she becomes a victim of the show's cruel and uncaring systems – caught in the crossfire of Kiva and Saga as they battle in the ever-escalating war between human and Fangire. (Which is how the Shima plotline factors in, as the episode very specifically highlights their clashing ideologies as their reason for fighting.) Mio's death serves as sort of the ultimate reminder of the tragic price of the vicious cycle the cast is currently caught up in. I know there's sort of a loaded nature to her death that's inherently going to be tricky for you to overlook, and I respect that, but I honestly think Mio dying when and how she does has an absolutely critical, justified place in the plot and overall themes of Kiva, and it's sort of hard for me to imagine it going any other way than it did.
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07-02-2021, 08:26 PM | #744 |
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It's completely insane, and I kinda love it. It was another plot I knew happened before I even watched the show (along with Mio's death; I've seen Wataru get made fun of for this absurd overcorrection a lot), and I remember being surprised how agreeable it all felt. Like, Jirou just throws him in the magic time portal and Wataru's broken heart takes over from there ?€“ he's going to make some bad decisions!
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Another thing I vividly remember from this episode for some reason is Wataru's transformation when he's protecting Maya? Right down to that swing set being there? I think it was probably because it was the first time you get to see Kiva Form in a few episodes, and it was also the scene where I recall registering how much I really liked Emperor Form's BGM... which explains why I didn't realize it was Emperor Form's BGM for so long. Funnily enough, I believe this is also the last time you see Wataru turn into Kiva Form at all in the show, so I guess I'm glad I savored it while I could!
... ...where exactly did Kivat chomp him? Quote:
Well, yeah, she absolutely did, and that's kinda the whole point of that story? Mio was a character who, arguably more than anyone else in the show, was torn between the two worlds Wataru and Taiga represent. She had a normal life she wanted to live alongside the cute boy she liked on one hand, and the burden of a fate she never asked for on the other. That unwanted duty of being the Fangire Queen ate away at Mio constantly, even pushing her thinking into some pretty dark places as she attempted to find some way to make peace with the idea, but she was never able to firmly commit to either side, and ultimately she becomes a victim of the show's cruel and uncaring systems ?€“ caught in the crossfire of Kiva and Saga as they battle in the ever-escalating war between human and Fangire. (Which is how the Shima plotline factors in, as the episode very specifically highlights their clashing ideologies as their reason for fighting.) Mio's death serves as sort of the ultimate reminder of the tragic price of the vicious cycle the cast is currently caught up in.
I know there's sort of a loaded nature to her death that's inherently going to be tricky for you to overlook, and I respect that, but I honestly think Mio dying when and how she does has an absolutely critical, justified place in the plot and overall themes of Kiva, and it's sort of hard for me to imagine it going any other way than it did. First, the loaded nature of her death... pretty big deal! I'm not exactly upset about the fact that Mio died (I'd've been shocked if she didn't die, at least briefly, over the course of the show), but I'm furious about how the show justified her death. It wanted a sacrifice, but it didn't do the work to make that sacrifice something that grew out of her character. It's the sort of thing that works better in metaphor than in narrative, and that's always going to bug me. (I would like both! I don't enjoy unmotivated character actions that exist to serve the story's themes!) That's just The Writer's Hand, and I don't love it. Second, even without the specifics of Mio's death, I dislike where it puts Wataru and Taiga in the aftermath. It flattens their conflict for me. They were previously having a complicated fight about familial obligation, and cultural identity, and how to protect a sibling, and a dozen different things. Now their fight is about Their Woman, and that's significantly less interesting to me as a concept. Can the show find some fun angles on that trope? It's Inoue; I know not to bet against him. But it's the sort of story choice where he's going to need to expend a ton of energy just to get me to stop hating it, and that's... I would prefer he not have handicapped himself like that.
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07-02-2021, 08:52 PM | #745 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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That's the scene after the one I was talking about, where he's with Otoya and right back to using Emperor, but yeah, now that you mention it, I guess that's pretty memorable in its own right.
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07-02-2021, 10:13 PM | #746 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 45 - "WITH YOU: THE LAST TRANSFORMATION”
I really liked the Yuri/Wataru scene! The rest of the episode was weirdly only adequate! I'm going to have a tough time explaining why the rest of the episode wasn't anything too exciting for me. I mean, it's full of big things: Bishop tells Taiga that he was the one who killed Mio. Bishop decides to overthrow Taiga, because systems can't tolerate what they can't control. King vows to kill Taiga if Maya stays with Otoya. Otoya becomes Dark Kiva twice, and probably dies from the attempt. Wataru gets punched in the gut by his dad. It's a big episode! It's also a somber episode, and a ton of it feels... preordained? Inevitable? There's a fatalism to it, exemplified by Otoya's insistence on killing himself for Maya/Taiga/himself. (The previous episode, where Wataru was trying to negate his own existence, managed to be a fun lark by comparison.) Otoya's always been devoted to his own whims, to the exclusion of common sense or basic decorum, but here it comes off as frustratingly obstinate. Otoya is going to become Dark Kiva to save Taiga, even though a) it'll kill him, b) it won't even defeat King, c) Wataru is more than willing to pitch in to defeat King and keep Otoya alive. It's a suicidal plan that won't even succeed, but the show treats it as laudably heroic, a testament to Otoya's belief in self-determination. It tries to make it seem bittersweet, what with the hushed Maya/Otoya scene, where he asks her to be strong enough to let him sacrifice himself. Both actors imbue the scene with so much love and sadness that it's easy to forget, for just that one scene, how unnecessary it all is. But for the rest of the episode, it's just this grim march towards Otoya's fate, and it's maybe a dumber, less-fun version of his own son's rush to destroy himself. It doesn't feel like a hero accepting the cost of his love for people. It feels like an egotist throwing himself headlong into a dangerous situation, when there's a more powerful hero willing to join the fight. Speaking of that hero, it's a great episode for Wataru. I love the way the show gives the big hero speech in the middle to Yuri, to tie her ability to see the good in a break-up to Mio's desire for Wataru to live. It's a fun way of getting at how we project our guilt onto other people - letting their memories judge us harshly - when it's easy to forget how they might forgive us. Wataru's been too caught up in his own guilt to remember that Mio wouldn't've wanted him to have never existed, wouldn't've wanted to have never been able to meet him. It's the same way Yuri doesn't regret dating Otoya, even though it didn't last. Big-hearted optimism from Yuri (her only scene in this episode!) will always be worth savoring. The rest of this one, though... hmm. Briskly-told, and with some great action (this was one of the few CG finales I really enjoyed?), but I just wasn't feeling how on-rails the Otoya story came off. It's not out of character, but it either needed another gear to it, or for the rest of the cast to call him out on his weird death wish. As it is, it's an episode where everyone's like I Guess It's Time For Otoya To Die, and that really took the wind out of my sails. It's like, I will grudgingly allow this episode its plot, but I can't exactly praise it. That Yuri/Wataru scene, though! That part was aces.
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07-03-2021, 03:19 AM | #747 |
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Well since Otoya has his one equivalent to Emperor Form, it’s only fitting that he gets the song to go with it.
My one hing with this episode: Bishop is an idiot. |
07-03-2021, 08:28 AM | #748 |
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It's something everyone struggles with, to some degree. It's not fun to be judged, or to feel like you're not connecting with people. But a lot of what Kamen Rider shows focus on is that trying to please other people at the expense of your self-respect isn't a good trade. It's better to be yourself, express your thoughts in a way that's honest without being confrontational, and let that be enough. Maybe people will like it, maybe they won't. Depending on their acceptance or praise isn't worth changing yourself.
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 42 - “THE POWER OF LOVE: THE KING’S RAGE”
The first scene is near the opening, with Wataru’s friends letting him know how proud they are of how he fought back against his depression. It’s an incredibly sweet scene of Kengo, Megumi, and Nago cheerfully embracing Wataru after a few episodes of him pushing them away. It’s so sweet. The best part of that scene is Wataru singling Kengo out for a personal apology. He spurned Kengo’s offer to be bros, and he wants a do-over. He wants to be friends with Kengo. Cut to Kengo, eyes wet with pride, as he clasps Wataru’s hands to say We’re Already Friends. It’s one of my favorite moments in this entire series. It’s maybe the nicest, most gentle thing I’ve ever seen a show like this do. And it gets to a big thing for this episode that gets explicated in my other favorite scene in the episode. Quote:
Otoya’s been swiped by King, leaving Maya and Yuri to figure out what to do next. Well, maybe just Yuri, since Maya realizes that pursuing King and taking back Otoya is basically suicide. That leaves Yuri to beg Maya for help in saving Otoya, which stuns Maya. (For a Maya value of “stunned'', meaning her head tilt is a full 10 degrees to the side instead of the normal eight.) Why would Yuri want to save a man who’s humiliated and disgraced her? And Yuri says something that, even if it feels weird coming from her, feels universal and true.
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The Shima stuff… it’s incredibly weird to be devoting a couple episodes right before the end-run to Shima’s relationship with Taiga, or Shima’s rejuvenation via Fangire magic. If this was a middling detour in the 20s, I don’t know, fine. Maybe there’re some laughs. Here, it just feels like the show is trying to fill up space before the story really progresses.
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I'm not really elevating Otoya's morality, by saying that his compassion is one of his greatest qualities. It's just that it stands out in contrast to his more frequently seen flaws. Maybe that's why Otoya and Jirou are such good friends, cause they both started out as pretty terrible people and their friendship grew out of a rivalry which came to mutual respect. They both had their own flaws to overcome as well, like Otoya's resistance to marriage and Jirou's yandere behavior. Terrible people can help each other become less terrible, like your example of (Hanaya) Taiga and Nico. But just as everybody has flaws, those terrible people aren't without merit either, they have hidden qualities and redeeming factors and those qualities I believe should have recognition. I definitely don't think Otoya is some kind of saint or anything like that. I mean, it's hard to believe that when his argument against Wataru being his son was that he couldn't have a son that tall. That has implications.
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07-03-2021, 08:51 AM | #749 |
Standing By
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 45 - “WITH YOU: THE LAST TRANSFORMATION”
It’s also a somber episode, and a ton of it feels… preordained? Inevitable? There’s a fatalism to it, exemplified by Otoya’s insistence on killing himself for Maya/Taiga/himself. (The previous episode, where Wataru was trying to negate his own existence, managed to be a fun lark by comparison.) Otoya’s always been devoted to his own whims, to the exclusion of common sense or basic decorum, but here it comes off as frustratingly obstinate. Otoya is going to become Dark Kiva to save Taiga, even though a) it’ll kill him, b) it won’t even defeat King, c) Wataru is more than willing to pitch in to defeat King and keep Otoya alive. It’s a suicidal plan that won’t even succeed, but the show treats it as laudably heroic, a testament to Otoya’s belief in self-determination. Even though Otoya is the least biologically compatible with Dark Kiva, I still consider him its true user. He gets the most use out of its finishers, it's symbolic as Wataru's and Kivat's fathers are teaming up and as Androzani pointed out, he has his own version of Supernova. Just like how he was destined to create Bloody Rose, I think he was destined to become Dark Kiva as well. The fact that he survived henshining twice is proof of his strength and determination as a human. He's still iconic as IXA Save Mode though. Quote:
It tries to make it seem bittersweet, what with the hushed Maya/Otoya scene, where he asks her to be strong enough to let him sacrifice himself. Both actors imbue the scene with so much love and sadness that it’s easy to forget, for just that one scene, how unnecessary it all is. But for the rest of the episode, it’s just this grim march towards Otoya’s fate, and it’s maybe a dumber, less-fun version of his own son’s rush to destroy himself. It doesn’t feel like a hero accepting the cost of his love for people. It feels like an egotist throwing himself headlong into a dangerous situation, when there’s a more powerful hero willing to join the fight.
I'm glad you enjoyed the last CGI monster fight of the show! Maybe it has something to do with the clever way Flight Style was used as transportation to get Kiva on the brainwashed Castle Doran for the Zanvat Sword finisher. My King, it was I who killed the girl you loved. There is no need to thank me.
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07-03-2021, 12:31 PM | #750 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Well, even though it's an obvious choice since Die liked that scene so much, I've already used the heartfelt track from Yuri's conversation with Wataru that helps inspire him to move forward, so instead, here's the heartfelt track from Otoya's conversation with Wataru that helps inspire him to move forward. Lots of people trying to help Wataru out in this one!
I think that I think this is a better episode for Otoya than Die did? I mean, yeah, I get that there's an unflattering interpretation to be made for it, but while the huge ego involved highlights how much is still the same about him, I can appreciate what the episode is doing by shining a spotlight on how far Otoya has come as a character here at the end. There's a line in that initial discussion about him becoming Dark Kiva that flies by for how important I think it is. His immediate response to being informed that King is planning to kill Taiga is to flatly declare that a child of Maya's is a child of his, and like, do I even need to bother stressing how crazy it is to hear that sentiment coming from Mr. Fear of Commitment? It's not about a simple whim, like usual, which is where I think the fatalism comes in. If Otoya was trying to treat it like his latest grand heroic stunt, something he expects to come back from to smiles and praise, it's not really illustrating the shift in his values that's happened over time, and for the exact same reason, he obviously isn't going to politely sit back and watch when he knows there's something he could be doing for the sake of the people he loves, no matter how reckless it is. I mean, you've already acknowledged that this is all in-character, so I know this isn't really the part that's in question here, but I guess what I'm saying is that this is another case where I feel those rails the plot is apparently on are maybe a good track to be heading down? (Also, this is only barely related, but I don't know where else to fit it in this post – that Rider Punch Otoya does as Dark Kiva is totally awesome. Great to finally see some early Kiva-styled stock footage special attacks again.) Anyway, something I really want to note about this episode is that there was quite a bit of it banished to the realm of deleted scenes, denied a true claim to being "canon", and in this case, there are some neat moments that were cut out. There's a little bonding moment between Kivat II and Otoya where the former expresses an appreciation for the latter's music, which kinda adds a tiny little bit of weight to them working as a duo later, even if it's admittedly largely irrelevant to the overall tone of the story. More critically, there's a whole plot thread where Wataru ties up Otoya to keep him from going after King that's excised, which is a darn shame, because Otoya throws some words at his son in there that really nail what I love so much about this plotting choice for Wataru's character so much. In response to Wataru trying to talk about how what he's doing will change the future, Otoya says: "You're wrong, Wataru. You just want to escape from the suffering you're feeling. It's wrong that you're even in this time to begin with. Do you plan on coming to the past every time you make a mistake?" ...And then Wataru of course brushes this off and it would presumably lead in to the scene of him and King fighting shortly thereafter. Considering Wataru didn't make the choice to come to the past, and the exact nature of his plan means he'll only have to the one time, it's maybe not the most accurate dialogue to his situation in-universe, but it's a perfect summation of what the viewer is meant to be taking away from Wataru's current struggle. He's filled with all this regret he doesn't know to live with, how to make it a part of him and move on, but because it's a toku show, when he wishes he could change history, he gets that chance literally, and it's kind of great? It's a story about Wataru deciding his life holds so little value the universe would be better without him in it, and it really tears into that entire line of thinking at every turn to make a point about how misguided it is.
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