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03-28-2024, 07:53 PM | #511 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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It's funny. Foundation X was rejected hard back when the idea was proposed, which is in turn what lead to alot of fans not liking the idea either. And yet, the producer who came up with it was ahead of his time because had the idea been proposed for, say, Zero-One? Toei would be all over it due to how much everyone wants to get in on the whole "Shared Universe" idea made popular by the MCU, whether one likes it or not.
I'm sorry you didn't enjoy this story! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, though!
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03-28-2024, 10:39 PM | #512 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 47 - “THE REMAINING U - PHILIP’S CASE”
One of the first things I wrote in this thread was that W is really the story of Fuuto. While this two-parter is way more about Shotaro and Philip than anything else (like a hilariously masked Santa, ‘cause the actual actor definitely wasn’t at that party), the idea of Foundation X being outsider investors, with no feelings whatsoever for Fuuto, is pretty great to have at the end of this show. They don’t belong here, and that’s the biggest reason to fight them. They exist to profit off of their myriad strategies, but they don’t care which one is the most profitable. Where the Museum was woven into the fabric of Fuuto, and represented an aspect of it that Double couldn’t easily excise, Foundation X is here to be the slick, gentrifying outsiders that don’t care about the spirit of Fuuto, or the core identity of the superhero show it’s based in. They’re completely Not Wanted, so they make for appealing foes. Quote:
Like, what else could you do for a final W story than have Philip accept his imminent demise with grace and heroism, while Shotaro rages against both the cruelty of fate and the seeming-tranquility of Philip’s acceptance? A story where forming Double to save Wakana, Philip’s fondest wish, is the very thing that might kill Philip off for good? C’mon, that’s a hell of a hook for the last ride Shotaro may take with the devil.
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This whole thing… man, so much better than I remembered it. I love how heavy this one is with Team Double, and I honestly dug Kazu’s whole Nothing Personal take on corporatized armageddons. There’s always a chance that the conclusion lets me down, but this is off to a stellar start.
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DIE-A MEMORIES
-While I’ve come around on Foundation X, it’s for sure in a So Bad It’s Good sort of way. I 100% do not think that Foundation X is here to represent the ways real estate investment groups hollow out the character of towns and cities, but at least it’s a hook that helps me care about their presence. They’re just a bland group that’s funding a bunch of projects without caring too much about any of them, which is maybe not the tone you want for your villains across multiple series? The Indifference Of Capital? It’s okay if the show can support it thematically (Geats, Zero-One, Ex-Aid… the stuff Takahashi likes to talk about, is what I’m saying), but W doesn’t really spend a ton of time on the soul of Fuuto, outside of Kirihiko’s storyline. And, shit, they’re already moving on to Medals, so that does not add a ton of heat to this Gaia Impact story! Quote:
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You're right. Getting a full on blast of Terror's' ooze which is what causes the fear in the first place? Zero weight or progression in that. If only we'd had previous instances of seeing Dopant powers work that way. Like with with Old, then maybe it'd have some weight to it.
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Philip fears learning his past, but decides to do so and comes out handling it well enough thanks to the people he's grown bonds with. Kyoko fears what Terror Dad might do to her, but by sneaking into the compound she's what ultimately saves the day. And of course there's Shotaro, who despite being full of fear toxin is able to pull through, showcasing that, outside of his fear powers, Terror is ultimately just an old man who can't fight worth anything. And it's double great because, throughout the whole show, we've never actually seen Terror fight anyone directly. He's always just hit them with the ooze and teleported around. It's all a very fitting way to showcase what exactly courage is and how it can pay off, and I dug it a lot.
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03-28-2024, 10:46 PM | #513 |
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Maybe? I think it's also Saeko's traditional brutal honesty, since both her and Wakana have been treated like pawns and prizes by men for pretty much the last 46 episodes.
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03-29-2024, 01:30 AM | #514 |
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This episode hit so hard the first time I watched it. It didn't affect me as strongly this time, but it's hard to have the same gut punch from watching Shotaro let Philip go when you know that he'll be back and a continuing part of W for several movies, some cameos, an ongoing comic book, and a cartoon. It's still done really well, though. Utopia wasn't a terribly interesting final villain, but he made enough of a splash in these final episodes that I remembered him being around longer.
Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow and hearing Die's thoughts on one of the most divisive finales in all of Kamen Rider! |
03-29-2024, 10:16 AM | #515 |
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This episode hit so hard the first time I watched it. It didn't affect me as strongly this time, but it's hard to have the same gut punch from watching Shotaro let Philip go when you know that he'll be back and a continuing part of W for several movies, some cameos, an ongoing comic book, and a cartoon. It's still done really well, though.
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03-29-2024, 02:05 PM | #516 |
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KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 49 - “GOODBYE TO E - A BOUQUET OF JUSTICE FOR THIS CITY”
I think this was the right epilogue for this show. I’d’ve probably hated it for something like Revice or OOO, though. This one immediately undoes the stakes of the previous episode, with so little distance in between the consequences and salvation as to be comical. The pain of separation – the sort of thing we’d normally have as the time between a series finale and a winter crossover film, or eventual V-Cin – is a point dropped in through exposition. The delay in Philip’s return is as brief as the barely twenty minute wait in this episode for the theme song to play us out. But that’s this show, you know? It’s not a show that really wants to stress you out, or work you too hard. It’s a hang-out show. It’s uncomplicated and warm, where nothing’s every really going to screw up our beloved dynamic for more than the middle section of a story. Philip returns quickly and smoothly, because it’s more fun when he’s around. The end. With that in mind, I really enjoyed this final adventure for Team Double. It’s a quick one, the only single-episode story for our crew, and it’s mostly here to illustrate how hollow things are for Shotaro on his own. He’s capable of defending the city, but it doesn’t mean as much without Philip. The brief Akira/Yui story is here to tell us that it’s important to keep going when we’re on our own, while acknowledging that it’s better when we don’t have to shoulder those burdens alone. It’s cute, and, again, not complicated. This isn’t the show that’s going to send you off with a downbeat finale, or even one that delays your gratification for too long. So, yeah, fifteen minutes or so after vanishing into the Earth’s memory, Philip is resurrected by Wakana and given a second chance at life. (This part actually was weirdly complicated, because it’s not until way late in the episode where it’s revealed that the Wakana scenes are happening shortly after Episode 48, not concurrent with the events of the rest of this episode.) It coasts on the warmth of this being a final episode, even if your level of investment in the Sonozaki family drama may render this more exasperating than cathartic. Nice to see Philip get the kind of family reunion he always wanted, but it’s hard to square this beatific version of a USB drug metaphor crime family with the one we encountered over the last 48 episodes. They all had their deathbed repentances (for Sonozaki versions of “repentance”), but it’s just weird to see them all so chummy. Who cares, though? Philip’s back, Shotaro’s half-boiled, Akiko’s toting unconscious data humans, sins are being counted, and a pleasant breeze is blowing through Fuuto. It’s not an episode that wants you to feel anything other than light humor and easy drama, which is pretty much the mission statement of Kamen Rider W. Not a great epilogue for similar shows, but just right for this one. — DIE-A MEMORIES -I absolutely love that Shroud drops dead for no real reason other than that she had no more exposition to dispense. God bless this show’s use of Fumine Sonozaki. -This wasn’t a huge episode for Fuuto as a whole, but I like that this finale gave us the entire crew of allies and informants, even if it was for something as innocuous as yelling at a pet store clerk on Shotaro’s behalf. They didn’t really matter to this particular story, but it’s a good reminder of the deep world that W had constructed around the edges. -The group of youths who were trying to do Gaia Memory cult crimes – it’s fine! I am never going to feel like surly youths don’t need a good ass-kicking from a superhero, so they were exactly the proper level of menace for a quick epilogue that did not have nearly enough room to tell a nuanced Dopant Dilemma story. -Additionally, it was fun to see the ridiculous Energy Dopant get walloped by all of the basic Double combos. Those were good suits! I’m going to miss them!
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03-29-2024, 04:36 PM | #517 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
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So, like with most Rider shows, when I first watched W it was alongside my binge buddy, Name. While watching this episode, we had the following conversation: Me: You know, with how everything that kept Shroud going is now gone, you think she'd, I dunno, give up living or something. Shroud (immediately): Me: I WAS JOKING! Name: Well she wasn't. I still laugh about that to this day. And speaking of me and Name, this is also a finale that him and I hold a big disagreement about as well, and was surprised to learn that the fandom was equally split. I'll just come out and say it. I'm in the camp that feels that Philip should've stayed dead. Now, I'm not about to say that him coming back totally ruins the dramatic weight of the previous two episodes or anything, but it would definitely give the show a more proper sense of finality in my eyes. Not only that, but me personally, I feel as though there's value in teaching kids about loss and grief, and how to handle it(hi, I grew up with movies like Land Before Time). I was absolutely drawn into the atmosphere of this one on that front. The scene with the Frog Pod is so mean spirited that I couldn't help but absolutely love it. Does Philip coming back and the show ending with "And the adventure continues!" absolutely ruin it for me? No, but my ideal finale swings the opposite way. Regardless, for what it is, I feel it's overall done well, and I'm not about to hold anything against anyone who's all in on the idealistic and happy ending.
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03-29-2024, 04:43 PM | #518 |
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Does Philip coming back and the show ending with "And the adventure continues!" absolutely ruin it for me? No, but my ideal finale swings the opposite way. Regardless, for what it is, I feel it's overall done well, and I'm not about to hold anything against anyone who's all in on the idealistic and happy ending.
Also, I'm glad that we both had a laugh at Shroud collapsing dead from Sudden Narrative Necessity, the most fatal illness for parents in tokusatsu.
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03-29-2024, 04:44 PM | #519 |
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I recall when I first watched the final episode, I wasn't really mad that Philip was alive, I was honestly glad. And in this case, I'm still glad. When Philip fully reveals himself and we get some hijinks with Shotaro just shouting in disbelief/relief that his partner is actually back, I just had a huge grin on my face.
The Dopant Case in this one is relatively simple, though I do like that getting rid of Museum and Foundation X ceasing funding doesn't mean the end of Gaia Memories. There's still likely plenty out there, though it's obviously not as large scale as it was before. It's a good way to handle a threat like that. And it's nice to see the show explore the fallout of Museum with what kind of groups decide to rise up in Museum's place. Speaking of the show exploring stuff. I feel like more Rider shows should just give us full on epilogue episodes? Some of my favorite entries in the franchise usually push the final battle to the second to last episode before telling an epilogue of sorts as the one that airs right before the next Rider shows up. I just feel like it's a nice way to decompress and sort of see where our characters are headed in a future that we'll likely never get to see, but be able to imagine. |
03-29-2024, 04:50 PM | #520 |
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The Dopant Case in this one is relatively simple, though I do like that getting rid of Museum and Foundation X ceasing funding doesn't mean the end of Gaia Memories. There's still likely plenty out there, though it's obviously not as large scale as it was before. It's a good way to handle a threat like that. And it's nice to see the show explore the fallout of Museum with what kind of groups decide to rise up in Museum's place.
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