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06-21-2021, 02:39 PM | #641 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
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Well, this episode definitely solved a mystery for me. It turns out I'd confused the introduction of Tatsulot with the introduction of the [REDACTED] Sword. I knew that something had come bursting out of a wall inside Castle Doran and I was sure that it was Tatsulot, which is why I was a little confused (but not even a bit surprised) when he just showed up out of nowhere with barely any explanation. Glad to see that my poor, faded memories of a show I haven't seen in almost 13 years aren't completely fabricating plot points.
In other areas, I'm pretty firmly convinced at this point that Shima is just a terrible boss. Not only am I still fairly positive that the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization is literally just him, Megumi, and Nago (plus Kengo 2.0 now, I guess), but at this point I'm also certain that his selection process for IXA is to find the most unstable man around and give it to him. First it was some rando that followed Yuri home, then the creep that had been stalking Yuri, then a barely held together lawful stupid bounty hunter, and now it's the 20-year-old with anger management problems who keeps assaulting the current IXA. I think I have a very good grasp now on why pretty much every Fangire that the WBSO went after in 1986 is still alive and well in 2008. |
06-21-2021, 02:46 PM | #642 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
In other areas, I'm pretty firmly convinced at this point that Shima is just a terrible boss. Not only am I still fairly positive that the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization is literally just him, Megumi, and Nago (plus Kengo 2.0 now, I guess), but at this point I'm also certain that his selection process for IXA is to find the most unstable man around and give it to him. First it was some rando that followed Yuri home, then the creep that had been stalking Yuri, then a barely held together lawful stupid bounty hunter, and now it's the 20-year-old with anger management problems who keeps assaulting the current IXA. I think I have a very good grasp now on why pretty much every Fangire that the WBSO went after in 1986 is still alive and well in 2008.
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06-21-2021, 05:30 PM | #643 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
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Another double feature this time, as this is absolutely the episode for me to go back and share one last pick from the first soundtrack – Wataru. You've heard this one a lot!
Naturally, this is the 2008 counterpart to Otoya's version of the same thing, which you may remember me sharing waaay back after the second episode. Otoya plays the violin with considerably more flourish, befitting his immense talent and passion for his craft, whereas Wataru is a lot more straightforward; a little more raw, but no less earnest. I've always much preferred this one for how understated it is, to be honest. (And as a little bonus, since this IS the last piece I'm using from the first soundtrack, here's the YouTube playlist for the entire thing! There's quite a bit of it I never touched on at all, so by all means, give the whole thing a listen sometime if you've enjoyed what I've been posting.) Getting back to the second soundtrack, it's Kiva Air Battle, which I'd presume is Flight Style's theme, based on the name, and it does play here during that scene, but like with a lot of its music (just ask Saga's theme), the show ultimately uses this one whenever it wants to. ...And it's not hard to blame them for that n this case. It's got such a classic 80's/90's toku/anime hero vibe to it (if Wataru ever busted out a Shining Finger on a Fangire, this would definitely be the music playing), but with all that Kiva polish to boot. It's pretty awesome! Flight Style itself is something I'm fairly ambivalent towards, in contrast. Like, there's plenty to love about the idea of a Rider who turns into a sweet dragon bat thing, and that was even incorporated into Emperor's design from the outset (it's why his kneepads are feet, for example; that's how the toy works), so I suppose a lot of that is down to how admittedly haphazard its introduction is here. While I ~think~ I would've known it was a thing going in, I didn't watch the movie until after the show, so ending such a genuinely emotional scene with Wataru randomly becoming a CG monster really threw me for a loop! It was also just kinda hilarious? But the thing is, that whole scene is another one of my most vivid memories of Kiva. Something I feel encapsulates a lot of the show, perhaps even right down to the potentially shoddy plotting building up to it, and the endearingly ham-fisted integration of toy gimmicks that ends it. But I remember Wataru playing that violin, and that counts for a lot. I remember Kiva playing that violin, and it counts for even more. Despite how brief that shot ends up being, I think any Kiva fan can tell you better than I can how striking and unique to this show any variation on that visual always is. I don't know if I'd be agreeing or disagreeing that the Bloody Rose origin story here feels disconnected (again, a Kiva episode being sloppy would not surprise me), but I can at least tell you I still look back on that scene super fondly years down the line. One other thing I mentioned after the second episode was that your observation about how extra personal the central premise might be to Inoue put a lot of the show in a new light for me, and sure enough, this episode was the #1 thing I was thinking about when I said that. One other realization I've also had, which is probably obvious to everyone else, is that this episode actually explains why the Bloody Rose tells Wataru to fight? I mean, it seems so straightforward, but I never made the connection that it's literally Otoya's prayer. It's not telling Kiva to go destroy a Fangire; it's specifically encouraging Wataru to protect people's music, and that's honestly really sweet?
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06-21-2021, 05:39 PM | #644 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Lots of great commentary on the music... and what I notice most is that the thumbnail makes me realise Kiva Emperor's 'ears' are little bat wings. That's so good
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06-21-2021, 06:42 PM | #645 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
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Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
But the thing is, that whole scene is another one of my most vivid memories of Kiva. Something I feel encapsulates a lot of the show, perhaps even right down to the potentially shoddy plotting building up to it, and the endearingly ham-fisted integration of toy gimmicks that ends it. But I remember Wataru playing that violin, and that counts for a lot. I remember Kiva playing that violin, and it counts for even more. Despite how brief that shot ends up being, I think any Kiva fan can tell you better than I can how striking and unique to this show any variation on that visual always is.
The more I think about it... I don't know that it fixes what I find wrong in the episode, the tonal and thematic incoherence at work in the Kurenai stories, but it's a thing that I sort of blurted out to Sh Ranger and now I'm really thinking it might be an interpretation I can get on board with. This story of Wataru's, it's about how we throw ourselves into work and hobbies after a breakup? Anyone who's ever had their heart broken can recall how they started working out more, the extra hours spent at their job, all of the concerts they went to, the constant ways they tried to distract themselves from lingering on their loss. That's what Wataru's doing here, with Bloody Rose. He can't fix his sadness, or his anger. He can't fix things with Mio. But, like, he can fix this violin. This thing with Mio and Taiga, it sucks. It's a shitty hand that Wataru got dealt. But he still has Kiva, and still has his dad's violin. Maybe that can help him get through this tough time in his life. What better moment to declare his dedication to protecting people, instead of just protecting Mio? Now's the time to take a greater interest in the future, because his present is depressing as hell. Anyway, that's me trying to salvage a good scene from a sloppy episode!
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06-21-2021, 07:18 PM | #646 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
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If I were to offer a bit of defense in favor of the story as well, I'm not sure Kiva ever needs too much justification for landing any plot back on Wataru's connection to his father giving him the strength to press on? Sure, the narrative of a particular episode can build it up more thoroughly and be better for that focus, but with what the show as a whole is about, I don't know if there's any scenario where you could say with certainty that it's completely out of place.
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06-21-2021, 07:26 PM | #647 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Location: Chicago, IL
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Quote:
If I were to offer a bit of defense in favor of the story as well, I'm not sure Kiva ever needs too much justification for landing any plot back on Wataru's connection to his father giving him the strength to press on? Sure, the narrative of a particular episode can build it up more thoroughly and be better for that focus, but with what the show as a whole is about, I don't know if there's any scenario where you could say with certainty that it's completely out of place.
It's this personal story of Wataru needing to do some growing up, but then part of the resolution is about Otoya's legacy? It feels a little forced, and the plot doesn't work too hard to make it feel earned.
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06-21-2021, 09:02 PM | #648 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 36 - "REVOLUTIONARY: SWORD LEGEND”
This was an episode where the whole was somehow less than the sum of its parts. There are a bunch of fun ideas, and some interesting character developments, but it also feels like it's just rushing through a checklist to set up other storylines. It's not really about much, despite being an entertaining episode. I mean, this is an episode that has the incredibly-pious Nago angrily demand that God fix the mistake He made that resulted in Nago losing IXA. That is the most Nago thing of all time, maybe. That is Nago's incalculable sense of self-regard actually overpowering his commitment to his moral code for only the second time in this series, and it's perfect. It's done with zero self-awareness, which sounds about right. His entire worldview is built around his God-given superiority, so if he's made to be inferior, it's God's problem to fix. The twisted logic in that is sublime. And it's a scene that ends with Nago trying to get a better fortune from Megumi by basically fighting her for it! It's so good! Speaking of dudes who don't handle defeat well, we get to spend a little more time with Kengo, and it's... I think I can see it two different ways, depending on how much I want the show to not just be permanently ruining Kengo's character for shock value and melodrama. It's the middle of Mio's plotline, where she's told Taiga she likes someone else, but she hasn't told Wataru yet that it's him. (I mean, she's told him several times, but he hasn't gotten the message yet.) So she goes to talk with Kengo, to find out how to tell a hypothetical skinny boy in a scarf that she likes him. Taiga and Wataru are barely concealed behind a nearby hedge, spying on the rendezvous. Kengo tells Mio to take a walk with him. On that walk he tells her that he always liked her, and he grabs her in a totally unwanted embrace, at which point Taiga and Wataru arrive to break it up. The frustrating view of the scene is that Kengo is a monumental creep now, a giant entitled baby who wants everything he was denied before: IXA, Mio, respect. It's horrifying, mostly for how the show will probably try to redeem Kengo and we'll be asked to pretend a scene of sexual harassment and casual violence never happened -slash- wasn't traumatic enough to be worth staying mad at. That's one view. The other view, and it's one that I'm maybe concocting so I can keep liking Kengo, is that Kengo obviously sees Taiga and Wataru hiding behind that hedge and concocts this ridiculous scheme to get them to admit to their feelings. (Kengo is the greatest agent in W.A.K.E.U.P.'s history! He completed an entire month of training! There's no way he missed those two idiots bickering fifteen feet away.) He hates Wataru right now, but he hates romantic melodrama more, so he forces everyone out into the open. He's still going to punch Wataru in the face, though. Kengo's still a deranged lunatic who needs to humiliate all of the people he used to care for. But there's this little glimmer of needing to do something nice for Wataru that got the better of him. He knows that Wataru is reluctant to take that kind of risk, so he gave him a shove. And then a punch to the face. Kengo's... he's a very particular kind of friend! Concluding our trilogy of men who blame everyone else for their failures, this is the episode where Taiga's mask starts to drop. He's been trying to take things slow with Mio, because he assumes that a) she already loves him, and b) she'll only love him more if he lets her set the pace of the courtship. This is, naturally, a thousand percent incorrect. Taiga's upbeat suitor has somehow overlooked the fact that Mio is getting more withdrawn and non-verbal as their dates continue, and she finally tells Taiga that there's another man. He takes it... not great. I mean, as far as rejected men in this series go, he actually takes it great: Mio isn't even a little kidnapped and threatened with forced breeding, so Taiga's still a pretty good guy by comparison. (He actually takes it better than either other aggrieved dipstick in this episode! And he's the evil Fangire!) But he's still furious about this unnamed man who's stolen Mio away from him. Two things I really liked about this storyline. The first is that I like that it's Mio making the moves in this episode. It's about what she wants, who she wants, rather than her being some prize for Wataru and Taiga to fight over. (Give it time, though, I assume!) She's the one who tells Taiga that there's someone else, and she's the one who makes a pitch to Wataru rather than the other way around. I really appreciate that. The second thing I liked is that Mio never tells Taiga who the other man is. You could easily write off Mio's stuttering non-answers as the show needlessly prolonging the tension for Wataru and Taiga, but I see it differently. I see Taiga demanding answers from Mio, and Mio realizing that it's none of Taiga's business. She's breaking up with a dude she never wanted to be with in the first place; it doesn't matter who she's leaving him for. He isn't owed an answer, despite Taiga assuming he's the star of every story. This isn't something she's doing to him, it's something she's doing for herself. Despite all that good stuff, this episode still felt sort of weightless. I think it's all the foreshadowing the show is doing right now? There's Bishop's meeting with Maya, which mostly just fills in a little backstory while also letting folks theorize. There's King's appearance in 1986, who mostly just looks like an older Wataru that is cosplaying as a Kingdom Hearts character. And then there's the Kanvat Sword, which doesn't actually do anything this episode. It's a lot of stuff like that, where it'll probably be a great story someday, just not today. It's too much setup, not enough actual storytelling. Still, a decently entertaining episode. When the show is able to spend some time with its characters outside of prophecy and exposition, it's as good as always. The various plot devices keep it from being great, but they don't make it bad. I can't be disappointed in an episode where Nago is as crazy as he was here!
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06-22-2021, 02:40 AM | #649 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,551
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The king has issued a proclamation: listen to his insert song.
I’m probably a few episodes too early to fully cover the head honcho, so instead, I’ll cover this episode’s other big debut (other than the Zanbat), the lowest guy on the totem pole. (He doesn’t have as fancy a name as the others, for a start) Rat Fangire True name: Black Death (黒い死 Kuroi Shi) Human identity: N/A Class: Beast Rank: Pawn Actor: Ryuzou Ishino (voice) Not much for this episode in terms of comments. I’m sorry, it’s locked between two more notable episodes. |
06-22-2021, 09:09 AM | #650 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,098
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Quote:
KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 36 - “REVOLUTIONARY: SWORD LEGEND”
The frustrating view of the scene is that Kengo is a monumental creep now, a giant entitled baby who wants everything he was denied before: IXA, Mio, respect. It’s horrifying, mostly for how the show will probably try to redeem Kengo and we’ll be asked to pretend a scene of sexual harassment and casual violence never happened -slash- wasn’t traumatic enough to be worth staying mad at. That’s one view. Quote:
The second thing I liked is that Mio never tells Taiga who the other man is. You could easily write off Mio’s stuttering non-answers as the show needlessly prolonging the tension for Wataru and Taiga, but I see it differently. I see Taiga demanding answers from Mio, and Mio realizing that it’s none of Taiga’s business. She’s breaking up with a dude she never wanted to be with in the first place; it doesn’t matter who she’s leaving him for. He isn’t owed an answer, despite Taiga assuming he’s the star of every story. This isn’t something she’s doing to him, it’s something she’s doing for herself.
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