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04-01-2021, 02:14 PM | #571 |
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The whole Getting Better At Fighting thing is mostly a cover. Or, not a cover, but it’s Ryotaro not really dealing with his guilt over Piano Man’s transitional state. Ryotaro can’t really deal with the fact that some people don’t get saved, even when Den-O saves the day, so he thinks if he can maybe fight harder, no one will get lost in time. But Den-O doesn’t work that way, and Ryotaro training harder isn’t anything more than Ryotaro trying to put his guilt somewhere. It’s not productive, and Kintaros eventually needs to address that reality with Ryotaro. (Kohana is less likely to challenge Ryotaro than the Imagin, which is an interesting idea that the show doesn’t really explore. It’s maybe about how protective Kohana is of Ryotaro, as his bodyguard, in a way that the Imagin can be more blunt? Dunno. Not a thing the episode feels like dwelling on, unfortunately.) Kintaros sees that Ryotaro is looking at his guilt as a dereliction of his responsibility. Ryotaro thinks he’s feeling this weight because he’s not been as effective a Den-O as he should be; this guilt is his punishment. But it’s because he’s so invested in protecting people, so wounded by one displaced soul, that Kintaros can see that Ryotaro is plenty strong. His feelings of responsibility and duty are what makes him effective, not the other way around.
But doesn't mean like what some audience suggests that they should become emotionless and dead set on completing the mission without hesitation. Ryotaro's compassion and tender-heart, like him feeling guilt over here, is the one that makes for a true hero, as being heroic isn't only the cool stuff like destroying powerful beings that threaten innocent or putting their life at risk for others, but they do more than just (super)heroics. They are generally friendly and helpful towards strangers, even in little things that non-super characters can easily do. Little acts of kindness, you know, like what Ryotaro does in the Imagins' travel to the past that he makes an effort to put the contract holders in better place, something that other characters object at first due to flow of time. Quote:
For the other half, we turn to Yuuto, who is more or less shifting full-time to Retired Brat. He can’t really help Ryotaro any longer, since he can’t transform into Zeronos. He’s given up his future to save time, and now he’s free to make new memories. Protecting time and saving people, that isn’t his responsibility any longer. He’s free of that burden.
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THE BAGGAGE CAR
-Really thrilled with how screwed this episode made Yuuto’s existence out to be. The idea of your future self showing up in a beige trenchcoat and saying, basically, TATAKAE (because that’s what you do if you wear a beige trenchcoat on a Kamen Rider show, I don’t make the rules), robbing you of all hope… that is rough! Even for a franchise of doomed heroes, Yuuto literally dies a hero or lives long enough to see himself become a gigantic asshole who keeps wrecking his own life! That! I mean, THAT!
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04-01-2021, 02:23 PM | #572 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
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Why would the thought of Kohana challenging Ryotaro come out? Kohana is well, 'ko' (little) version of Hana, and she was fiercely protective and nurturing of Ryotaro. She always did something that would be favorable for Ryotaro, and a quick one regarding that - no "something that is painful but will be favorable later" like forms of tough love.
Yuuto was vaguely content with his obliterated future, and then Sakurai showed up and told him to Get In The Robot! It's a dick move! Deneb treats it like a death sentence! The entire climax of the episode is that Yuuto has doomed himself by accepting those cards! Sakurai is an asshole!!
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04-01-2021, 02:50 PM | #573 |
Warrior of Delusions!
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I'm ashamed to say how long it took me to realise I was confusing the ToQGer plot and a Den-O plot that hasn't happend yet. Not ashamed enough to not type it of course, but still.
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04-01-2021, 03:52 PM | #574 |
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I can't believe they did this same plot on a ToQger episode! Small world.
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04-01-2021, 03:58 PM | #575 |
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I think. Same head writer anyway
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04-01-2021, 04:25 PM | #576 |
Standing By
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According to Rangerwiki, that one was the third out of three written by Aikawa (head writer for Boukenger).
I can't speak for the quality of any of those episodes though, since they came after I quit.
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04-01-2021, 07:27 PM | #577 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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I mean, come on – a dude in a trenchcoat actually encouraging Riders to fight? Where do you even come up with gags this good, Die? Anyway, we should probably get back to talking about more serious matters. Quote:
Particularly brilliant was the subtle jab of replacing Yuuto's actor – who was of course infamous for his role as the new Kamen Rider Hibiki – with Ryuusei Yokohama, another returning Rider alum, who previously played the much better character of That Guy Who Formed The Basis Of Meteor's Backstory in Fourze. Or, uh, do I mean he would go on to play that guy? Time sure can be confusing! But still, this is definitely the part of the show where Yuuto hits his stride, and really becomes one of my favorites in the series. I know you don't like spoilers, but I just have to mention that there are some episodes coming up that involve him dressing up as a Sherlock Holmes-esque detective that I can't wait for you to get to. It's super endearing seeing Yuuto's more geeky side come to the surface, and Kobayashi really redefined him into this much more rounded character who even had some leadership potential, which is not something you would've expected a dozen episodes ago. Again, the changes are big, for sure, but I think they were really all for the better. Like, that new Den-Liner, right? Way cooler, with the whole rainbow motif giving it a striking look, and even having it turn into a big robot to fight giant monsters. I mentioned before I wasn't a huge fan of the mecha action in Den-O, but that only applied to the stuff before the retool. Proper giant robot fights should be at the end of every tokusatsu episode by law, and it's baffling that it took so long for Kamen Rider to realize this. It speaks to the confidence Kobayashi and the new staff had to realize these changes needed to be made. Kicking Shirakura out from the producer position was a deserved bit of karma, and Takaaki Utsunomiya was also the producer for Wizard, which is of course a beloved fan favorite, and I think that same energy really shines through here as well. But you know, I'm kinda just rambling at this point, so I should probably call it quits until you get further into this new era for Den-O. I can really imagine you'll have a lot of fun with it! (this was an excellent way to atone for your failure to make that dragon knight post by the way. kudos)
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04-01-2021, 09:17 PM | #578 |
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Who was Chalice even talking to in that scene? I'm not so great at remembering Blade stuff. Sorry!
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Again, the changes are big, for sure, but I think they were really all for the better. Like, that new Den-Liner, right? Way cooler, with the whole rainbow motif giving it a striking look, and even having it turn into a big robot to fight giant monsters. I mentioned before I wasn't a huge fan of the mecha action in Den-O, but that only applied to the stuff before the retool. Proper giant robot fights should be at the end of every tokusatsu episode by law, and it's baffling that it took so long for Kamen Rider to realize this.
I'm glad you ended up liking this new direction as much as I did! On the one hand, I'm thankful I didn't get spoiled on it. On the other hand, something this big happening without people bringing it up made me wonder if no one really cared about this era of Den-O? I'm glad I'm not the only one to be onboard with all these new developments. I don't know what's going to happen next, but like the Den-O theme song famously says, "Let's board the exciting train and find out!"
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04-01-2021, 10:54 PM | #579 |
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KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 36 - "NO POSSESSION, NO SECESSION, TRAIN SLASH!"
First off, thank you as always for indulging my nonsense. Thank you for helping me pretend that the 36th episode of the Weird Train Kids Superhero Program, aka ToQger, was actually the 36th episode of Kamen Rider Den-O. There's little in this world I love more than committing to a ridiculous bit, so thank you for giving me a day to do that by playing along. Second off, extra-special thanks to AkibaSilver for giving me the idea to do this. It was a year ago, when I was writing up Ryuki, where they said Hey You Should've Written Up A Dragon Knight Episode For April Fool's, and I was devastated that I didn't think to do that. Since then, I knew I'd need to do something for 2021, and April 1st was when I'd be watching Den-O, and I remembered the Weird Train Kids from that Gaim crossover, and here we are. Once they put the idea in my head, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. On that note, this episode of Den-O. Like a lot of Den-O episodes that I find sort of uneven, there's a middle section to this one that I'm astonished by. As Ryotaro grapples with the existential nightmare that defines Yuuto's existence, he's never seemed more uncertain. Like his inability to handle his failure with Piano Man, he can't abide by Yuuto's decision to keep fighting as Zeronos, nor Sakurai's decision to set this all in motion. The idea that not only can he not save Sakurai's memory, but that Yuuto's every action makes that loss more permanent... it's too much for Ryotaro to bear. There's a lot of weight put on Ryotaro in this one, emotionally, and the first half really drives it home. There's no victory for Ryotaro to fight for, nothing to defend. When Airi casually mentions selling the telescope in Milk Dipper, Ryotaro's aghast. He's at his most fractured, straining against causality to get Airi to remember Sakurai, to fight for his memory. But there's nothing left in Airi to do that. Ryotaro is grasping at sand that already slipped through his fingers. The confidence in the show to do that, to not give the hero a way to fight back, it is exceptionally brave. It forces Ryotaro to stop looking for a way to save the day. Instead, it asks him to believe in the ability of others to save themselves. Ryotaro... he definitely has a hard time practicing what he preaches. Yuuto's smart to throw Sakurai's words back at Ryotaro, to point out the hypocrisy of Ryotaro being willing to fight impossible odds because he can't stand by and do nothing, while forbidding Yuuto from making that same choice. Ryotaro has a difficult time letting go of his savior complex enough to trust that Yuuto knows what he's doing and why he's doing it. But Ryotaro can't save the day by himself. It's going to take other people, and he has to let them help in the ways they feel is right. That leads into the Liner Form finale, and, I don't know. I never felt like the Ryotaro Needs To Get Stronger story needed a literal conclusion. It's way more interesting if it's a metaphor for Ryotaro needing to stop burdening himself and let everyone else help him shoulder the weight. For me, that story reaches its climax with Ryotaro handing Yuuto the Zeronos cards. Having a whole finish where Ryotaro gets a Den-O form and defeats the monster with a cool new roleplay weapon, the Speak-n-Slash, whatever. It's a superhero show, and that's the superhero finish. It just struck me as both tonally incongruent (it's this big colorful rah-rah finish to an episode that kicks off with a disillusioned Ryotaro cursing the unfairness of the cosmos) and also weirdly diminishes Yuuto's argument that he's crucial to averting disaster (since Ryotaro gets an awesome new power-up that seals the victory). Across these two episodes, it's like the first five minutes and last five minutes are a story about Ryotaro needing to be a better fighter, while everything in the middle is a story about Ryotaro trusting in other people to take care of themselves. Those two themes... I don't think they work great in one story? There's some overlap, stuff about guilt and responsibility and faith and accepting help, but at the end of the day they feel like they're working at cross purposes. It's a weird Den-O episode for me, in that I felt like Ryotaro's disillusionment and Yuuto's need to explain himself, that shit worked great. That was some top-shelf writing and acting. The fun elements of Den-O felt like a distraction this time, to the degree that I wanted to tell the show to, like, read the room. Usually I'm the other way around, where the dark costs of being a Rider feel like a waste of some really fun adventuring. Maybe those ToQger empty calories from earlier today had me appreciating more robust storytelling? Maybe! THE BAGGAGE CAR -JUST TELL YOUR STUPID "NEW TRAIN LINE" STORY ALREADY! GOD. -Was not super thrilled that the reason why Den-O needed to use Liner Form instead of any of his normal forms was just Time Reasons, and here's a fun toy and new costume. I usually like the costumes and power-ups to feel narratively motivated, and this wasn't that to me. Felt not very necessary. It's just one more part of the series-arc that comes across as thinly established and uncompelling. -Nothing in this series is ever as scary as Ryotaro getting upset with Airi, so I'm glad the show pulls that lever sparingly. There's a level of realness to it, that relationship, that makes the heightened melodrama of a Kamen Rider freak-out seem cruel. Still, unbelievably effective at communicating Ryotaro's fracturing mental state.
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04-02-2021, 01:28 AM | #580 |
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Join Date: Jan 2012
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So the main association I have with this episode is, to bring up something we haven't discussed in awhile, TV-Nihon's translation. Like I mentioned when the thread started, one of the things TVN did with the show was leave things untranslated if they thought it sounded cooler in Japanese. That led to the debut of Ryotaro's ultimate attack with Liner Form being written as "Densha Giri" instead of "Train Slash." I don't think there was a translation note, either, which left me really confused about why everyone thought the name sucked.
The rest of the episode is fine, but outside of Liner Form's debut, it just feels like a continuation of the same concerns over Yuuto's powers that we've had for the last few episodes already. There are some nice moments, but it's not one that really stands out for me. As for Liner Form... well, it's okay. I think it looks better than Climax Form, but I still don't love it. The most interesting thing about it is the fight it starts over which of those is meant to be Den-O's ultimate form. Anyway, tomorrow's episode is one I've been looking forward to. No spoilers, but there's only one way to appropriately herald episode 37: |
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