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06-18-2021, 02:38 PM | #16651 |
I have a problematic type
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Oh yeah, I know. Telling people not to watch the back half of Hibiki, having them say they're going to anyway, and then later saying that they regretted it is my own personal Groundhog Day.
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06-18-2021, 04:47 PM | #16652 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Overlord Saga Episode 25: Gridon and Bravo, the Strongest Tag Written by: Gen Urobuchi/Jin Haganeya, Directed by: Hidenori Ishida Ah, a breather episode. I guess breaks are needed from the crisis and surprising reveals before. Gaim and Knuckle are fighting a horde of Inves in the city, with Ryugen jumping in. After beating them, there's a clash between Micchy and Zack regarding Kouta's plan, of former thinking in cynic realist way like Takatora for Kouta to accept 'reality', while Zack is optimistic about dealing with the Inves currently. I guess it's an intriguing implementation about how cynicism and optimism here can be completely aligned, though Zack didn't know about Overlords yet. So some of my answers regarding the Beat Riders state are answered here, that there IS a debate for people between the Armored Riders being guilty for summoning Inves, or them saving people. Jonouchi, who watches this, wishes to stomp other teams to show-off knowing this, before realizing that (another answered stuff) that the rankings are no more. Jonouchi exhibits a wrong take of heroism here, of him wanting to take part of heroism (like those Armored Riders) for the glory and to bask in the public admiration, when the hero part is the good deed they do to others. Jonouchi comes across his former member Mei, who meets up with Mai and Chucky, and as they leave, they gossip about Jonouchi like him being sissy and not wearing suitable glasses, which sends Jonouchi into despair. Well yeah, of course, Team Invitto's "appreciation" to him before won't last, considering him being a loser. This is intended to be comedic with the sound effects etc., but this one's clearly a mean-spirited take of it, even if Jonouchi was a slimy scumbag, as the reasons to mock him isn't about his morality. Mei and Chucky (the scene mainly alternates between them too for the gossip) should really remember how it feels to be hated by the public before. Jonouchi returns to Charmant, and is moping about it while work, which got Oren scolding him, but he shows an appreciation to Jonouchi as him realizing about Beat Riders being amateur distraction means it's a path for him becoming a true man, and Oren decides to train him for real. Gaim explores Helheim with Jimber Peach Arms, and with his sense, notices Kaito there, noticing that he's doing the same thing. Kouta chastises Kaito for not telling him (Kaito's a honest man), but Kaito thinks it's futile to think Overlords as a help for humans, and lumps the Overlords with his social darwinism view as they're incredibly strong to humans which means they'd only look down on humans. Kouta accuses Kaito as making them angry instead to pick fight with them. But Kaito had his own plan to make Overlords submit, which is via power, to humiliate them into submission that they'll answer to human's demands. I appreciate here that there are new clashes of methods for new problems in Overlords, Kouta is being too optimistic, but he's likely treating the Overlords as wild animals who prey on humans at first, but can be tamed. At first glance, Kouta's methods seem to be out of reach, but Kaito's can be out of reach as well, to think that he can easily gain that much power to beat the Overlords, and make them submit via power. Kaito trying to make them submit has questionable success as well, like when he recruited Jonouchi and Hase via giving them Lockseeds, the companionship wouldn't be mutual that way. Both have good points though, and could be mixed to get the best results possible. Ryoma, Sid, and Yoko are investigating DJ Sagara, which is to no avail for them, but turns out DJ Sagara has been sitting on Ryoma's chair. Ryoma amicably greets him to talk (despite his previous animosity for Kouta getting power ups), which DJ Sagara claims as merely observer, and notices that Yggdrasill had unfair advantage, which makes him help Kouta, and he notices now that he may be biased to only help him, which prompts him to help Yggdrasill again now, to Ryoma's excitement. DJ Sagara also figures out that Project Ark is only a front for Yggdrasill gaining power, which Ryoma admits as true. Ryoma also elaborates more about his theory about how Helheim has been linked to the world since ancient times, and he uses several myths like otherworldly fruits; like Garden of Eden, the golden apple a fruit called ambrosia, which he thinks the legends come from Helheim, and it means Helheim contains forbidden fruit. His intellect is proven as DJ Sagara approves that, and adds up that forbidden fruit must be obtained by fighting your way to the top. As Sid is curious about DJ Sagara knowing this, he instructs them to find Overlords. DJ Sagara seems to be someone who abuses his power and knowledge for his own entertainment (ending at the one who obtains the fruit), he prolonges the conflict between the both sides, giving advantage to who he see fits. Oren trains Jonouchi by taking him into... a playground, albeit the training is actually taxing. It ends with Gridon running into a landmine which promptly explodes. The one good gag here though, is the part when the mantis themed park watches Gridon flying into the air after the mine explodes. Later Oren claims that men must be beautiful and graceful in addition to strength.. which probably explains the feminine traits Oren had. Jonouchi is crossdressing and trains to pose in a way Oren wants. Mai, Mei, and Chucky comes to Charmant, only to leave after seeing Jonouchi as crossdresser. Jonouchi cries over this, and as Oren insists him to continue, Jonouchi is fed up with Oren's training, and admits that he's a fake, not knowing what he wants to do in life, envying Oren. Oren suddenly turns stern, claiming Jonouchi as a fool and that it's natural for him to not know what he wants. Despite the comedic premise, I'd say Jonouchi's breakdown is completely portrayed as serious and meaningful, but likely also proving that comedy isn't necessarily light-hearted, this part has depressing trait (depending on how much people think Jonouchi deserves this though), it captures the feeling of being ostracized by others, that even Jonouchi acknowledges how lame he is. Jonouchi visits Drupers, with strawberry decorations, to mope there. Kouta approaches him, and as Kouta reminds him to work at Charmant, Jonouchi laments about his current situation, and even regrets about leaving Hase. Other than that, what you've gone through, is exactly the same as what Hase was going through, being ridiculed by your former team. So.. Jonouchi did consider Hase as a friend here, but it's his fault to leave him desperate for power, and you only treasure what you lost. As Kouta tries to explain, Jonouchi continues as he's also jealous of Kouta, for being able to hang out with friends, enjoying youth. Kouta clarifies his predicament too; that he left the team, being secretive to them, constantly feeling guilt, feeling bother to Micchy and Kaito. This apparently succeeded to cheer Jonouchi up a bit, realizing that Kouta doesn't have easy life either. Though Kouta isn't directly a mentor or role model, Jonouchi envies him, and the solution is to show that even the target of jealousy can fail too, as nobody's perfect, even if outwardly they might be. Oren appears, and out of nowhere, Iyo takes a picture of terrified Bando while stepping on him, terrifying Oren, with Oren accusing Kouta as leading Jonouchi astray, and jumps into the conclusion to henshin and attack Kouta, who resorts to hide, while Iyo is still taking pics of Bando. Eventually, Iyo takes off her shoes (what's the purpose of this though?) and beats up Bravo with broom, dustpan, and a nunchuck. So Iyo acts like a bodyguard too for Drupers, and had the strength to KO Bando, albeit Bravo acts as a punching bag more rather than affected, giving time for Kouta to escape and henshin as Gaim. This whole sequence has the most random comedy, with anything comes out of nowhere, albeit Kouta and Jonouchi's conversation are meaningful. Bravo continues to chase Gaim, and for comedic purposes, both seem to lose their ability to balance properly, falling on the stairs and hurting themselves. Bravo continues to accuse Beat Riders, but finally Gaim tries to clear the misunderstanding as their battle continues until the farther side of the waterfront. They're interrupted by 2 Inves, with Gaim clarifing to Bravo that the Inves come from a crack. It doesn't make sense to Bravo, but at least he did consider it. Jonouchi notices that a bunch of Inves are heading that way, and finally henshins into Gridon to shield the Riders from their firepower. One of the Inves takes him sky high, but Bravo throws one of his Duri Noko to the Inves to free Gridon, catching him as he falls, and tries waking him up. So Oren genuinely cares about Jonouchi, albeit can be too strict, and his method of training Jonouchi can be another misguided part of his....like his idol Takatora himself for his upbringing to Micchy. Gaim uses Kachidoki Arms to defeat the horde of Inves. Oren carries Jonouchi on his back, and Oren appreciates Jonouchi's true colors there. Jonouchi finally also tries to clear the misunderstanding Oren had, telling him that they quit Inves Game, proven as there are no ranks anymore, and that Team Invitto gets along with Team Gaim, which finally gets through Oren's thick skull as he discovers a crack and jumps on it. Kouta really did get through Jonouchi, despite him insisting to leave him alone, so talking things out (albeit Bando also treats him) do clear up problems, which would be applied in the following...At Drupers with Kouta still there, Mai arrives, and continuing from her worry before, she insists for Kouta to explain what's going on.
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The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series (currently only found Ryuki and OOO's). Last edited by DreadBringer; 06-19-2021 at 02:46 PM.. |
06-20-2021, 06:29 AM | #16653 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Overlord Saga Episode 26: Baron's Genesis Transformation! Written by: Gen Urobuchi/Jin Haganeya, Directed by: Satoshi Morota The episode continues right from the cliffhanger of previous one with Mai questioning Kouta. As Mai notes Kouta's been acting weird and keeping secrets, likely due to feeling unworthy to be together with the dance team (as he later says), but he tried to leave, excusing Akira's curry getting cold. Mai didn't budge to guess it's about Yuuya. Still, it didn't take much for Kouta to open up as he explains the effects of Helheim Fruit and what happened to Hase and Yuuya for that, along with how he unknowingly killed Yuuya. As Mai asks where he found it out, Kouta explains that he finds out by venturing to Helheim. This did get Mai in tears and dropping to her knees, but she instead understands how heavy the burden Kouta's carrying alone, and hugs him to comfort him, both shedding tears. I like it for Kouta to not follow Micchy's instructions, others knowing the truth is better in the long run, and this is the most heartwarming route that they take regarding this situation, where there are no accusations or dispute, and it's all support and understanding. For continuation regarding Mai's worry about Kouta's hero complex before (the ep. 24 one), which he uses Yuuya's death to further aiming bigger, the appropriate action for Mai, especially for the more serious situation right now is to help Kouta herself, prevent him going through this alone. As Takatora reports that the mass production of Sengoku Drivers is near completion, he feels that there's no turning back for now, that they should move into culling the population as per Project Ark, despite the loss of Scalar System. Well, actually there is, apart from other atrocities Yggdrasill has commited, the murder part is the one that would have no return for how irreversible those are unlike producing more belts. In a similar vein as Mai above, Micchy also claims that the current situation is hard for Takatora, which is refuted by him, in his own form of 'with great power comes responsibility', which he refers as noblesse oblige refering to the Kureshimas who had , but in darker take than Kouta's that he thinks they had to stain their hands, like what Sid claims for being an "adult", only that Sid's doing it as an excuse to be a dick. At Team Gaim's garage Mai informs the others about the world ending due to Helheim, but Yggdrasill hides it. So I'd guess Kouta further told her more offscreen after confessing about Yuuya's fate? While Micchy, as expected, is pissed about Kouta not obeying him, complete with eerie expression, Zack notices that Micchy knows about this too, which he lied a bit as another one to hear that from Kouta, but openly states that he can't tell others about it (which is his agenda for this long). Zack seems to be insightful to realize this about Micchy, he'd likely understand Kouta's worry more and put aside his optimistic view to 'merely' take care of the Inves. As people haven't gotten the info yet, Mai decides to be the one to spread the news into the whole city, with Zack agreeing and Micchy secretly planning to act against that. So with Kouta out of the way (as in ep. 9), Mai and Zack are the one to rally people into contributing for others. As per what Bando said before, secrets can be a great source of power, with it being able to manipulate those who don't know. But like what he said about how power depends on how people use it, this part's an implementation of power being used for good, in form of Mai getting the secret and using it to help others be aware of the problem, giving her more options than just dancing. It's an extension of Mai's comfort to Kouta before that she doesn't want others to bear problems by themselves, including hers now by knowing the truth of the fruit, by telling them what's going on. However, I'd say they aren't making full use of their partnership; the Beat Riders had no rank anymore right? That'd mean no stage restrictions and they can use any stages? They should ask for the whole other team's help other than the ones in garage (dunno if they try or not, but likely they'll be more accepting), and make use of multiple stages to inform people in even more areas. As the Beat Riders are gathering people, Chucky calls Kouta to come to the stage as she feels uneasy. Kouta is at Drupers and is outwardly in good mood, which got asked by Bando over this, as well as Iyo repeating it (and thinking Kouta as creepy for this... ironic coming from a closed-off dissonant employee). As Mai begins her announcement, with others handing out flyers, Micchy thinks to himself that he only wants for Mai to smile, and begins summoning Inves to wreak havoc and cause panic, with the Beat Riders getting the blame again, with Peko grieving that they came in worst possible time. Micchy keeps himself in their good graces by "saving" Mai, followed by Zack's henshin into Knuckle and leading the people away and Gaim aiding the fight. After the fight ends, there are no one left in the stage, and Micchy openly goes apeshit into Kouta, screaming and shoving him around, blaming him for "making Mai sad" and thus has no right to act like a hero. Say for yourself, Micchy's the one made Mai sad here by ruining her plan to spread the news, and someone sending monsters to attack people and picking favorites being the one to call out others for 'acting like a hero' (his thoughts are very literal 'wanted to see Mai smile'... only her, others be damned)? Micchy always had narcissistic arrogance and control freak tendencies, and it reaches the peak here to openly show it in front of everyone to blame everything on Kouta while ignoring that his actions are the one causing trouble. From his reaction here, his words to 'keep the joy' at ep. 18 is full-on literal as well, Micchy doesn't see his "friends" as people, his "friendship" with them is only done for his own emotional satisfaction, seeing them more as extensions of himself. He doesn't actually care about them or their wishes, including Mai, controlling her like puppet to keep him sane as long as he can look at her having fun. For this, the scene happens; Mai slapping Micchy to snap him out. However, this only adds fuel to the fire, as outwardly to others before Micchy seems to be a genuine friend, but without knowing his twisted nature, the slap deteriorated his sanity. This shows that slapping sense to others should be applied with extreme caution, as smacking someone when you don't know what's wrong with them can easily do more harm than good, with Kouta scolding Mai for this too. Though that aside, I wonder how much info will Mai tell to the public, I'd say it's good to tell certain infos like something that can be avoided such as the crack or the fruit's effects, but it won't be good to tell infos that people can do nothing about like the world ending part, unless she'd add up the Armored Rider's activities to prevent that. Ryoma and Yoko talk about the Overlord data they've gathered, but Ryoma ditches Kaito as he doesn't make the cut. I wonder if this is about Ryoma's shared social darwinist traits, that Kaito got the short stick of it coming from others, and/or if it's standard mad scientist aspect to see others as tools. Yoko however convinces Ryoma otherwise by talking about her interest with him, which doesn't seem to be like her for Ryoma to concern herself with others; in different approach to Ryoma, Yoko's social darwinist traits however serve to make herself bond with Kaito for shared interests. Micchy enters the room, and gets a leer from Ryoma. However he claims he hasn't told Takatora yet which puts Ryoma at ease, and he had extended his control freak aspect to the Yggdrasill members as well, to force them to follow his plan. Yoko approaches Kaito, trying to wipe the blood in his face seductively, which Kaito brushes off. For Kaito being in the weak in this fight, other than using it to learn from mistakes before, he acknowledges that to gain power he had to face the risks, another showing of him being sincere in his belief and not being hypocrite. Yoko gives him a Genesis Driver, as a 'gift' from Ryoma. Zack watches this and asks him about the lady. The conversation gets lengthened when Kaito mentions Yggdrasill, which Zack points out as the company hiding Helheim from public, but Kaito reveals that he knew better than Zack by mentioning Yggdrasill's plan. Zack calls out Kaito for still working on them while knowing about that; so Zack didn't know anything about Kaito where he hates Yggdrasill with passion and this is the exact reason he quit team Baron. Kaito explains about how he doesn't care about right or wrong, only demeaning weaklings like usual. Zack stops him to remind him about being used by them, but Kaito's doing that as well to strike them from behind, and urges Zack to win his own future. This misunderstanding would be cleared if Zack knows Kaito's backstory... but Zack seems stunned by Kaito's social darwinism here now, does he aware for him following that principle in Beat Riders when Kaito leads them? In Helheim Forest, Kouta apologizes to Micchy about Mai, with Micchy still acting cordial in front of his friends to just forget it and continue for the search of Overlords. Between this and Kouta scolding Mai while defending Micchy, I'm afraid of Kouta finally treating Micchy as right and go along with him. Kouta henshins into Gaim Jimber Peach to look for Overlords, while Micchy secretly stays still to inform Yggdrasill about. Ryoma did plan to keep Micchy connected to Beat Riders as his 'spy', and this is the realization of it, using up Kouta, who has mutual current goal with them. Yoko informs Kaito about the location, and fights Gaim as Marika as per Ryugen's orders, letting himself get shot by Marika to incite the fight. Even at Jimber Lemon Arms, Marika is stunned by Gaim's newfound strength, which he claims as Yggdrasill forcing him to toughen up, which is true to some extent like Sid hardening Kouta's resolve despite trying to break it, but doesn't mean that the villains' acts can be justified by "it's just toughening up the heroes to take on the greater threats". But Marika is doomed to lose as Gaim had Kachidoki Arms, so the fight will be decided by how long will it take for Gaim to use it. Kaito henshins with Genesis Driver, allowing him to use Baron Lemon Energy Arms, the mid season upgrade of the secondary Rider here. Baron keeps up with the red Overlord now, either in melee or ranged, which he lampshades itself that Genesis Driver is leagues above Sengoku Driver. Despite the Overlord's mist ability, he managed to shoot away the Overlord sneaking from behind. When both use their ranged attack, Baron shrugged it off better than the Overlord, which had the bow embedded in him, enraging the Overlord for being beaten by an 'ape' (in human language, he had learned). Gaim arrives to break the fight up, insisting to talk it out, with neither wanting to listen, while noticing that Baron got Genesis Driver. The stupidity here isn't about breaking the fight, but why did Gaim degrade from Kachidoki to base form before? (not a character decision, but common franchise decision) You have the power surprassing both, utilize it to break off the fight (not by the one to attack, but he would restrain them successfully likely)! When the red Overlord got called away by another one, Gaim blames Baron again for making him angry, I have to say Gaim's a bit biased here to always pin the blame to questionable humans he knew. Baron responds with usual apathy to humanity or right/wrong and finally resorts to fight Gaim for being a thorn to his side. Gaim tries to use Kachidoki, but is shot from the back by Ryugen as he's in Ride Wear form, knocking him out of the transformation. While Ryugen shows further of his treachery, that Yoko thought he's changed, still this is the consequence for degrading to base form.
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06-20-2021, 07:48 AM | #16654 |
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Fun fact: Baron getting a Genesis Driver, like Zack becoming Knuckle, was not in the plan for the series. It was a last minute change because of the character’s popularity, hence why there’s no new Lockseed to go with it (he does have a planned power up, but it won’t come until much later and they definitely never intended it to be a toy) and why there are no magazine scans of it.
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06-20-2021, 03:00 PM | #16655 |
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Quote:
Fun fact: Baron getting a Genesis Driver, like Zack becoming Knuckle, was not in the plan for the series. It was a last minute change because of the character’s popularity, hence why there’s no new Lockseed to go with it (he does have a planned power up, but it won’t come until much later and they definitely never intended it to be a toy) and why there are no magazine scans of it.
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The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series (currently only found Ryuki and OOO's). |
06-21-2021, 06:45 AM | #16656 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Overlord Saga Episode 27: When You Know the Truth... Written by: Gen Urobuchi, Directed by: Satoshi Morota Ryugen's depravity is showing more here as not only he shot Gaim in the back, he's even going as far to shoot the unconscious Kouta with Budou Ryuhou. However, Ryugen's advantage by his cowardly move is cut short as Baron jumps into attacking him. Ryugen argues that killing Kouta would be benefical for Baron too, but as Baron's someone who hates secrecy, it's expected that Ryugen would be someone who pushes the buttons of Baron. Ryugen's move on Kouta proves to be his mistake here as he had become Baron's target of real animosity, that Kouta was only a nuisance, but Ryugen's his real enemy; the one that resorts to cowardly move, as in, they're weak enough to genuinely test their strength head on, and Kaito hates cheating. As Ryugen ran off due to Baron using Genesis Driver, Kaito also approaches the unconscious Kouta, and while claiming him as dense, he did something nice to him to hide him in the leaved tree-branches from the Inves. Kaito does have awful traits, but he'd look good if there are other far more antagonistic characters takes action, like Micchy here, which sometimes make people, either in-universe or out of universe, overlook his nasty traits more than he supposed to have, not minding them. Micchy returns to the garage, maintaining outwardly good relationship with Mai despite the previous tension. As Micchy claims he had made up with Kouta (in reality totally opposite to resort into killing him untransformed), Mai notes that Micchy was OOC before while handing a mineral water to him, and as he asks what's "in character" for him, it's pseudo-OOC trait again as Mai thinks Micchy isn't usually worried about his persona, which in Mai's eyes, Micchy is usually mature and in control. From here, it's shown that earlier on, Micchy claims that Team Gaim is the place where he can be himself, but that cheerful and friendly persona in front of his friends isn't actually true to himself too. He implements a real dark take of being himself, as in, firstly not caring about what Takatora thinks about him, but it degrades into dismissing what anyone thinks about him, which'd make Micchy a total mood-swinger, quickly switching his personality around as he see fits without any regard to others as the take of 'being himself', ranging from his cheerful self to his friends, closed-off elitist, ruhtless cutthroat, insane psycho, etc. Takatora once claimed that he will be his own experiment's guinea pig, and it's shown here in him trying to test the Driver prototypes, henshined into Zangetsu for the first time, with Ryoma and his team observing this. Suddenly the Lockseed powers up to dangerous levels, with the scientists being unable to eject the Lockseed, forcing Ryoma to yank it off and Takatora being unconscious in his arms. Takatora gained a scar in his right shoulder for that, and it still exists now where it's shown in his showering scene, so all this time, Takatora has been one of the stronger fighters among the Riders, and he did it with a handicap within that scar. But Takatora feels that the pain is nothing compared to the sins that he bear for him commiting atrocity to save humanity. Him actually having a burden paints him as having a room for redemption, though it's not easy as he did try to shake off second thoughts by claiming to try break Kouta into despair, and shows the importance of mental injuries in addition to physical injuries of which the former can't be overlooked, the latter can be treated, the former is sustained forever. Aside from holding Takatora in his arms, Ryoma is shown to have admiration to Takatora at this stage, like apologizing to Takatora for the injuries with Takatora assuring that Ryoma's talent are hopeful. What Ryoma wants was already stated there to use Helheim as advancement for humanity, including godhood, with Takatora focusing on saving humanity, and Ryoma did tell Yoko to not report an Overlord photo to anyone including Takatora, deeming him as unambitious and not understanding what he wants, likely the start of him ditching his admiration to Takatora. In the present, Takatora shows his dedication to save humanity further, despite the atrocious means, by suggesting to cut corners in the Sengoku Drivers' production to go for quantity over quality, which got declined by Ryoma. In the Helheim Forest, while Kouta is wandering there, it's revealed that attaching fresh Lockseed at worn Sengoku Driver prevents him from being hungry, which made the food he brought unneeded. Oren is stuck there, almost tempted to eat a Helheim fruit, but stops by remembering his survival training as soldier. While he's portrayed as comic relief, he gets his badass moment back here by showing his strong-will here to resist the overwhelming temptation of Helheim fruit. Kouta comes across Oren and approaches him, noticed that he ran into a crack and got stuck. Oren's still hostile to Kouta to suggest that he's that careless. As Oren is hungry, Kouta decides to share his unneeded food for Oren. Oren however, accuses Kouta to have ulterior motive like asking for his service. Usually this is used by morally ambiguous or evil characters who can't understand the concept of goodness or generosity, but for Oren it's likely his irrational hatred for Aquarians, as he has good will to put Beat Riders in their place before, albeit got hampered by his lack of knowledge which made him do crimes himself to achieve that, which will be remedied here by his venture to Helheim. Though why didn't Kouta tell him that Lockseeds in Sengoku Driver can stall hunger like he recently did? In the Yggdrasill base, the red Overlord is attacking the researchers to look for Kaito, showing more (dark) humanity aspects of the Overlord compared to regular Inves other than talking, to swear revenge for those who wronged him, which is Baron injuring him. He leaves the scene as the green Overlord joins him, but the green one is interested by a Driver the red one picked. As Ryoma talks about the reason he declined is the limit of the rare metal for the Drivers, Takatora goes to help the Kurokage Troops in the base as the emergency alarm rings. Kouta tries to lead Oren into the crack on Yggdrasill's base to get him out, which made Oren joyous at a chance to meet Zangetsu again, and engages in petty squabble with Kouta again as he thinks Kouta also had interest in Zangetsu and put him in a neckhold. Both hear the Inves rampage at the Yggdrasill base (which really saves both of them time too), with Zangetsu fighting the red Overlord. As this is his first time, Ryoma not telling him about this, he's surprised by several aspects the Overlord have like being able to speak human language, joined by Gaim, and Bravo fighting regular Inves, which earns him the Kurokage's thanks later. Gaim in Jimber Lemon Arms tries to apologize for Kaito's actions to the Overlord, but this enrages the Overlord as he feels insulted. Finally as it's Gaim talking to the Overlord on his own, he realizes that the red Overlord is similar to Kaito, which is true but as darker/evil version of him, as both are red, have European armor theme, and has drive for power, with him treating war as glorious and his loathe for the weak, as he declares the Riders as monkey and vows to finish them off. With Zangetsu not knowing what's going on, it's Gaim's turn to explain things to him about Overlord and what he plans to do with them. Zangetsu actually listens to his explanation, and plans to restrain the Overlord to talk to them. The Overlord finally gets a showing that impresses me here as his power to control the plants is used to control the big trees around both Riders, which makes for a visually deadly attack to be slammed by huge trees several times, and opens for more distress situations as the Riders can be in danger anywhere they're in the Helheim as it's a forest, depending on the Overlord's range. As the Overlord sends a fireball to Zangetsu, Bravo shields him from it. Bravo de-henshins into Oren, falling in Zangetsu's arms, with Zangetsu commenting his actions as reckless, but Oren doesn't mind as he's in the arms of who he loves. It's a parody of self-sacrifices and it's enhanced by the love Oren had to Zangetsu which only made it harder to die in the arms you love. Before resuming the fight with Overlord, Zangetsu throws Oren into the Yggdrasill base crack, which creates another crack.... in the TV screen as Oren's face hits the audience's screen. The red Overlord's name is finally revealed here, which is Demushu (which translates to "shinku" or "crimson", fitting his color), as another Overlord, the white one, named Rosyuo (which translates to "hakua", meaning "chalk"), as he leaves the battle from the wounds inflicted by Gaim and Zangetsu. While Ryoma gains advantage for Demushu's interference here (which is Demushu unwittingly giving the humans' advantage due to his vendetta against Kaito), Takatora laments that he screwed up the first contact. Kouta however assures that it's only first meeting so no need to give up, which is credible as Kouta did meet the Overlords several times before, along with Kaito. As Kouta plans to negotiate with the forest rulers, he finally gets through Takatora, who as someone with same ideals as him, agrees to use the less vicious option to save humanity here, as the negotiation can increase humanity's survival rate, and he introduces himself to Kouta (only the given name though.. he won't know that he's Micchy's big brother yet!) while shaking hands, albeit still shoving him away after that. Though still, while this is a triumphant moment for Kouta to get Takatora in his side, I feel that Takatora forgets the evil without reason belief he upholds, as the Overlords can qualify for what he described as evil without reason, though Takatora's biggest flaw is trusting people who shouldn't be like Ryoma and Sid... this might be actually in line with his character but applied to the Overlords now, or he'd treat Demushu as another Kaito like Kouta does. As they spot Demushu again, both henshin into Gaim and Zangetsu, but him being moved by Gaim gives more reason for Sigurd to dispose him, as he attacked Gaim, which Zangetsu told him to stop, holding him off to let Gaim chase after Demushu. As both de-henshin, Takatora tells him that the situation has changed, but he never realized that the other Yggdrasill characters never show any loyalty to him, all of them confide to Ryoma, with Sid smirking to Takatora changing the situation and Ryoma planning to put the tired soldier into rest. While Takatora is softened, this shows a consequence of Takatora's hypocrisy before about humans doing evil without reason, while apparently excluding the ones on Yggdrasill. The humans that actually do evil are actually the one that is besides him on Yggdrasill, he should realize that the Yggdrasill is operated by humans as well, and not elevate Yggdrasill members as the only trustworthy ones and above regular humans.
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06-22-2021, 01:20 PM | #16657 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Overlord Saga Episode 28: The Betrayal of Zangetsu Written by: Gen Urobuchi/Jin Haganeya, Directed by: Takayuki Shibasaki The episode does not fuck around if the opening is done almost instantly as the episode starts. As Kouta returns to the garage, he's relieved that Micchy is ok. Although Kouta told them the Overlord got away, delaying his plan, he excitedly informs the good news that someone from Yggdrasill, Takatora/Zangetsu will work together with them. Mai cheers up hearing this news as well, despite her claiming to hate Yggdrasill, Seems that she doesn't blindly hate Yggdrasill like hating anyone associated with it, though still no skepticm for it being someone from Yggdrasill. Peko notes too that the cavalry has arrived, but well, Peko seems to know less about Yggdrasill overall unlike Zack who confronts Kaito about it previously. Kouta is confident that they won't lose now. At his apartment, Akira is short on money, and thus can only give fish fillet for dinner, and vows to get more shift. The job part between them is brought up again here after some time as Kouta asks if he still had to find a job, especially for the tight money she had. But Kouta's development has been acknowledged by Akira here, even caught on Kouta's expressions, even able to read from his face that he's actually dealing with bigger problems instead of being irresponsible, and by that Kouta doesn't need to rush. Akira is not that uptight and is reasonable here to let Kouta do what he needs to do currently. However Kouta's desire to get a job isn't about obeying her sister's advice anymore as he feels he needs to take care of her too, so he still does it anyway. But he's stopped midway by a couple of Inves attacking civilians, which had him drop his resume and henshin into Gaim to fight them off. After beating both Inves with Pine Arms (using what I think the most bland version of Iron Breaker, just bind the opponent and kick them with little fruit motif), Kouta realizes that he dropped his resume, and sadly for him, it's already been ruined and teared off. What do you expect if you drop it in the middle of streets? I thought Riders can keep some of the device they hold like phone or tablet... In Yggdrasill base, Takatora has a presentation about Overlords, explaining about how they know Helheim more and can potentially find a way to halt the forest's spread for safer solution to save humanity. Takatora notes that Ryoma doesn't have any reaction, and finds it odd for him to not be happy for this. Of course, Ryoma and others (who answer to Ryoma more than Takatora, revealed in ep. 20 as them being like-minded) had been trying to keep Overlords secret from him, so he already knew about this for some time, but Ryoma covers it up with his 'scientist logic' that he had to see for himself, which convinces Takatora that he's logical and he waits for his conclusions. In a similar vein as Kouta's news above, Takatora also goes as far to declare that Kouta isn't their enemy, which means their partnership is mutual (and if only Micchy isn't fucked up psycho, this'd be completely ideal situation for him to continue hang on with his friends without repercussions). Micchy is on the room too, and questions Takatora that he's too optimistic given how vicious the Overlords are. So despite Takatora's realist cynic view, him agreeing to follow in Kouta's plan is in character after all, relating to his poor character judge flaw which Micchy talked about before. Takatora did realize this and which is why, like Ryoma to him, Takatora hasn't made this public yet, but this is their first option that doesn't lead to despair. The camera then focuses on Micchy up close, hinting that he had another sinister plot against this. In the Helheim Forest, talking in their language, Demushu kneels to Rosyuo while Rosyuo knocks him with a shockwave. It seems that Rosyuo leads the pack. Kaito is walking around the forest and notices Micchy creeping up on him. As Micchy is someone secretive, Kaito figures out that he plans to silence him as Kaito had seen Micchy's dark side without Kouta knowing (as he was unconscious), but Kaito assures Micchy that he won't tell Kouta, as he can see no wrong about Micchy. Another trait that Kouta shares with Takatora that both places too much trust into Micchy, though it's partially Micchy's own doing to put cheerful persona around Kouta and their previous close friendship, and it's familial for Takatora. While it makes sense for Kouta to keep his trust to Micchy for their longtime friendship and that there's only 1 fall-out which is Micchy shoving him after he ruins Mai's plans to alert the city (it'd be treated as occassional squabble in friendships), from this point it'd act as Kouta's flaw instead to keep trusting him, as though Micchy acts like he fights for justice or cares for the friends' happiness, he had been trying to give bad influence to Kouta.to go along with his selfish plans, but due to his longtime friendship to Kouta, he'd see that as him being misguided and needed to be corrected (likely he thinks Ryugen's help at for example ep. 20 is him realizing that he needs to fight off Inves). Kaito however lets Micchy go, despite his declaration that he's his enemy and someone he wants to finish off. Mai and Kouta are eating in Drupers, talking about Kouta's another failed attempt to get a job (I don't know if his conversation with Akira is brought up too, as it's more important for that topic now), as Bando puts a help wanted sign as he needs part-time help. As the duty written there includes protecting Zawame City, Kouta is overjoyed and fills in, acting as if like Bando saves him from the end of the world by holding him, as well as Mai thinking it's perfect for Kouta. In Yggdrasill lab, Takatora directly talks to Micchy about how Kouta inspires him as unlike him, he remains steadfast in his belief to save others unlike Takatora who had given up on hope and resorts to the end justifies the means method. By this now Takatora understands what draws Micchy to him.. so Takatora did know about Micchy's friendship to Kouta, but doesn't know about his true animosity to Kouta inside, as he blames Kouta for 'ruining everything' instead, due to him dismissing Kouta as a mere idiot (for not obeying him, the 'smart one' for Team Gaim), and thus him influencing others equal turning others into idiots as well. Takatora assigns Yoko to take care of Micchy while he goes into Helheim with Sid. Both henshin into Zangetsu and Sigurd, but as for Takatora further strays away from the other Yggdrasill member's true goals, the inevitable betrayal happens as Sigurd attacks Zangetsu, all while the latter is puzzled by Sigurd's actions. However, Sigurd is not much of a fighter compared to Zangetsu, which leads for Zangetsu to subdue him. As Marika arrives, Zangetsu asks for her to subdue Sigurd, but turns out that she's on Ryoma's side as well to betray Zangetsu, overwhelming him with numbers with Zangetsu acknowledging they're conspiring all along, with Ryoma turning into Duke to finish the job. Both are puzzled at each other not following their true intention each (reach new heights for Duke, saving humanity for Zangetsu), with Duke claiming Zangetsu never understands what he wants. Zangetsu is knocked back into Takatora, and is cornered by Sigurd into a nearby cliff. As Micchy watches what happened, Takatora urges him to report to Yggdrasill HQ and finally, lets him associate with the ones he once called distraction and 'street trash' in Kouta to save humanity. But Micchy's psycho nature further escalates here as he only stands idly watching his own brother going to be killed, driven by jealousy due to Takatora being another one to look up to Kouta. It also shows Micchy's hypocrisy further, that despite him judging Takatora harshly, he himself is a ruthless son of a bitch who is even worse. Sid notices that Micchy is cold for letting Takatora be killed, in a complimentary way, as Micchy picks up the Genesis Driver Takatora had. Kouta visits Yggdrasill to meet Takatora, but as for the previous moment, the receptionist claims that they're never associated with TAkatora. Back at Drupers, Kouta is confused over that, but Kaito is one of the customers there and harshly demands Kouta to serve him, mocking him for his attention span. Before Kouta counters, he gets a task from Bando to deliver fruits. He delivers by pedaling a bike... He could've used Jimber Cherry Arms to deliver at high speed though.. power can be used for more than fighting or destroying (from DJ Sagara's talk) like him at ep. 2. As he reaches the destination, Zangetsu Shin appears, but he attacks Kouta, much to his confusion, thinking that Takatora is there. Kaito also arrives there and noticed that it's a trap. Kouta tries to stop Kaito fighting him as Takatora is not an enemy and explaining that they did understand each other before, to no avail. Eventually, Kouta henshins into Kachidoki Arms to block their way, with Zangetsu Shin summoning Inves to distract both Riders. For this apparent betrayal, this shows another patience limit in Gaim that he beats up Kamakiri Inves with only bare hands. As Kaito mocks Kouta's trusting nature, despite Kouta's explanation, it's revealed that said Zangetsu here was Micchy. He had resorted into stealing his brothers name and identity and used it for first degree attempted murder done to spite both Takatora and Kouta. The scene is also done reminiscent of a slasher movie as none of the fruit powers are used to mitigate the shock factor as he tries to beat up Gaim to death with bare hands. This doesn't only apparently destroy Kouta's bond with Takatora, but also made Kouta look stupid for wrong reasons as he's ridiculed by Kaito for making a deal with Takatora when he didn't actually betray him. Micchy's manipulation here is the one that is reminiscent of Kusaka's in Faiz, utilizing the fact that Riders (except for the first 6 Sengoku Drivers) can be used not only by its main wielder, the lesson here is to know that, Riders can be used by anyone. Another betrayal happens in the Yggdrasill base as Sid had destroyed Ryoma's lab, likely killing the researchers here, as Sid only views Takatora as a threat, thus the inner circle of Yggdrasill would fall apart after they no longer have mutual focus on Takatora. Sid even closes the permanent crack in the Yggdrasill lab as he enters it. It's unknown if Ryoma would do the same to Sid given a chance, but Sid's the one with more severe backstabbing traits compared to the other inner circle, which can make Sid even more despicable compared to Ryoma, like how Sid enjoys his heinous actions compared to the other inner circles who see those as a means to an end.
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06-22-2021, 02:58 PM | #16658 |
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Been a while since I've done some rereading of Saber, but I suppose now's a good time as any to start catching up. Which is funny since I have been following along with Saber but not, follow, following in regards to subtitles. I've at least caught up on all the stuff I've watched previously though, and a few new nuggets which is good! So before I get to Primitive I figured I'd go over the past set of episodes I like to call.
The Yuri Introduction Arc (Episode's 16 to 22): Episode 16 still hurts so much despite knowing that everyone turns against Touma. I felt it was a clever idea to have Riders who were a bunch of comrades at the start, suddenly turn against the outsider due to their ties to their organization and duty. Like, it's a good inversion of "Riders against each other, now they're friends" that we usually go through. I just like the idea of everyone falling out, but eventually coming back into the fold and even bringing in new members as well. We aren't there yet as of Episode 22 only Daishinji's returned, but it's a start! I suppose I should talk about the big star of this set of episodes, Yuri. I love the balancing act he has of a very fish out of water guy but still wise and knowledgeable about certain things. Him being locked away and his old mindset also helps excuse the sort of misunderstanding that occurs during Yeti Megid Two-Parter. I just sorta like the idea of him being super straightforward but also not specifying, so that's what causes the conflict. And the characters all let him have an earful as well. It's a nice little arc to see though, with Yuri being fascinated with the modern world, and slowly but surely growing from a stiff blade to a swordsman again. He's still got some work but he's getting there. And X-Swordsman still is probably one of my favorite suits out of Saber. Say what you will about the colors, but if it was only one or two colors I feel like that'd come off as more bland than anything. The multitude of colors just help him pop better as an individual. I will close off on saying that Yuri is also a breath of fresh air. Because I'm pretty sure we haven't had a Rider introduced at New Years who was an ally to begin with since... Mach? So yeah, that was nice to see. Touma himself is starting to slowly grow and become stronger, with his confrontation against Daishinji being a highlight of this set of episodes. It's nice to see the others point out "Yeah it's cool that you can use books well, but that's all you do" in regards to his fighting style, because it's true. He still has a lot to learn though since I liked how he ran with those words too literally when he faced Ogami. Like he figured it would be the same duel he had with Daishinji every time, go Brave Dragon, shout his resolve, and win. But he'll need more than just resolve to bust through Buster. Ogami gets his chance to shine in this set of episodes, or at least is starting to, since Daishinji took over a lot of the focus once we moved past the Yeti Megid. But I do like how the two are proactive and as the older one's, realizing something's wrong and not immediately buying what Reika says anymore. But they're still cautious and they want to be sure. Not much to say on Rintaro, or Ren, I do like what they're doing with Rintaro though. You can tell how pained he is just by looking at every scene he's in, and he's just so hesitant and heartbroken about this whole situation. Ren though... yeah still don't care much for him. Kids emotional and not really even thinking straight, and given I wasn't on good standing with him in the first arc, this is just making me dislike him more. Props to Reika for knowing what buttons to push though, she really had him in the palm of her hand. Really one of my complaints though is probably the lack of well... dread when it comes to the humans turned Megid. Like the Yeti Megid worked because it was Touma and Mei's chief editor, like, while she only showed up the episode before the arc, she's still an established part of the background. So that helped ramp up the tension. I'm slightly more lenient on the King Megid, purely because of what happens in Episode's 21. But the King Megid was rather boring, a model maker who admires Touma as the singular connection between the two. It just doesn't really work in my opinion, and it feels very filler filled even if we got some good over-arching stuff with Daishinji in it. Like I said I'm a bit more forgiving though purely because in Episode 21 we find out that our evil book club has been turning tons of people into new Megid. And there's a bit of a chill when seeing a stack of Alter Ride Books on the table in the Megid hideout. Like the King Megid felt like a big time waster because it absolutely was! It really helps emphasize that Touma needed a team backing him. If he had a team then the King Megid would have been taken care of maybe halfway through the first part, we wouldn't even need a second part. Maybe they wouldn't be able to get to everyone in time, but I guarantee you that if he had the full crew, they'd be able to distract the Megid Leaders for Touma to swoop in with Yuri and separate the human from the Megid. It really helps hammer in that Touma can't do this alone, no mater how strong he is. Likewise Charybdis and the twins... didn't do much for me with the Twins story. And while I just praised the King Megid like not that long ago, this gets into the slight problem with the human Megid I mentioned at the start. While we were fairly monster of the week in the first arc, our focus was less on the victims, more on the heroes. Yeti works because it has a connection to the heroes, even if it is a minor one. King and Charybdis though... don't really work because it feels like we've gone too long without any real outside characters, that they don't strike up the same sense of urgency plots like these normally would. And that's pretty much all I have to say on this set of episodes. At least that I can think of anyway. Looking forward to getting into the Primitive Arc. |
06-23-2021, 04:55 PM | #16659 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Overlord Saga Episode 29: The Overlord King Written by: Gen Urobuchi, Directed by: Takayuki Shibasaki The Gaim characters really had a thing of surviving from heights, like Oren/Sid jumping from several stories or Kouta jumping from a tree. And here, Takatora survives his fall from a cliff, while the white Overlord, Rosyuo approaches him. At Drupers Kouta still wonders about Takatora betrayal, which he presumed due to Ryoma influencing him (a secnario that could happen if Takatora is more shakable by Ryoma), with Micchy, the one that causes this problem, just listening without any words. It's shown that due to Kouta's Rider activities (well, it's one of the requirements in Bando's help wanted sign...), Mai fills in for Kouta whenever he had to go saving the world, with Bando enjoying the benefit he gets for hiring 2 workers with the price of one. Which essentially means that Mai works for free, as Micchy stated, but Mai is ok with this as she wants to help Kouta, as both does what they can. So Mai's attempt to help Kouta not suffer alone is implemented, but on domestic stuff, and no other attempt for alerting the city? Yoko enters Drupers to ask a favor. Takatora wakes up, finds himself bandaged, turns out that Rosyuo actually saved him. Rosyuo identifies himself as Femushinmu, descendants of his world's former inhabitants. Takatora asks why he saves him, but Rosyuo ignored it in favor for his own questions, such as if Takatora's the leader of the forest explorers and the function of the Drivers (which Rosyuo took from the green Overlord, Redyue). Takatora explains that he was the leader, but not anymore, and demonstrates that the Driver is made to absorb the fruit's nutrients without eating it, which impresses Rosyuo. Takatora asks about how Rosyuo can survive the forest, which Rosyuo explains as him being chosen by the forest, then continues about how the forest tests those who challenges it and chooses one worthy soul as the ruler, and Rosyuo deems it as a mistake. The favor Yoko asked is that Ryoma is reduced to relying on the other Armored Riders's help (Kouta, Kaito, Micchy) as he's betrayed by Sid and lost his research. Yoko even notes that Sid planned this ahead by destroying all the Lock Vehicles, after Micchy's suggestion. For this Ryoma asks for the Armored Riders' Lock Vehicles as Sid didn't get through them. Ryoma explains that Sid goes after the forbidden fruit, which can only be acquired by 1 person, with Kouta learning that Sagara helps Ryoma too (I mean he was in Yggdrasill first hosting Beat Riders before helping Kouta...). Ryoma notes that they can't repair the artificial crack and it takes time to produce Lock Vehicles, which means Sid can get ahead from them, and Ryoma wants to prevent that with the help from those Riders. For this time, Kouta accepts the cooperation likely for mutual goals without any anger, but had 1 condition which is to let him see Takatora. Ryoma claims that as Sid's supervisor, going after Sid will lead to him too. As Kouta leaves, Kaito claims that it's not his concern, highlighting him not being tied by morality as he holds power above anything else, making him a wild card depending on how much he can gain power. The whole scene, despite Ryoma's calmness and politeness here, still reminds me on the scene in ep. 11 where a scientist begs Gaim to save them despite treating him as guinea pig, this shows how Ryoma can have a downfall too, at least for now, despite his higher level genius. The 3 dicusses about going with Ryoma's plan, with Kouta explaining his reasons to not let Sid go and settle things with Takatora. Kaito again criticizes Kouta's trusting nature to believe every word someone tells to him without considering the possibility of it being a trap, and tests him if he'd believe that one of them secretly works for Sid, which Kouta quickly denies. This proves Kaito's suspicion to be true that Kouta won't believe about Micchy being traitor (what he indirectly refers for his claim that one of them can join Sid) despite Kaito's honesty. Although Kouta frequently comes out on top when his ideology clashes with the other Riders, such as Kaito (selfishness), Micchy (keeping secrets), or Takatora (methods to do good), this one's the part that is completely Kouta's flaw, which is about how he sometimes doesn't understand about what makes others evil, and rules out the possibility of someone being evil (unless he sees them in his own eyes like Sid or Ryoma), albeit Kaito mistook Takatora for a traitor with Kouta clinging to him due to Micchy's manipulation in this case, so Kouta's get a bit unfair judgment here from him, with Kaito just instantly deeming Takatora as the bad one here which is the wrong in his part. By this Kouta still have more room of improvement in his character journey. Micchy gets a call from someone, which he rejects. Kaito leaves, claiming that he doesn't need their help to take down Sid, explaining how Micchy will suggest them to split up anyway, to Kouta and Micchy's confusion. Kaito'd refer to Micchy's ulterior motives of helping the enemy side Rosyuo claims that "there's no point of surviving", pointing to the Helheim's surroundings that has been turned into ruins. For the upcoming invastion at that time, Rosyuo adopts social darwinism mentality in the new world to prioritize the strong and chosen ones to survive, but it turns out to be a big mistake as the chosen ones misunderstood his intentions (likely to defend themselves in the invasion) and instead abuses Rosyuo's mentality to prey on the weak, with flashbacks of Demushu and Redyue killing some lesser subjects. Takatora realizes here that Helheim didn't destroy the civilization, but the foolishness of its inhabitants, as Rosyuo's mentality turned everyone power hungry with no one left to stop the destruction. Rosyuo points out that the remaining Femushinmu are the strongest, but the most foolish, so the hope of reviving their civilization is gone. Rosyuo then turns to ask the Driver's function if it's to defend the weak or corrupt strong ones. Takatora didn't answer, but had flashback of his former allies. Rosyuo then concludes that humans are just like them, to walk on path of darkness and despair. Due to this, Rosyuo concludes that humans don't deserve fruit of knowledge, as they're similarly foolish, only valuing power, explaining it as a key to survive their doom and ascend to higher evolution, the one given to the hero that braves the forest, and formed after Helheim took over a world, which Takatora learns that this is Ryoma's goal. From this scene, this paints Kouta's plan against Overlord in better light, making it actually convincing compared to Kouta's previous attempts, with Takatora's (the better one perhaps, to reaffirm his belief to Kouta) the one to do the job to negotiate with one of the Overlords. Though of course, Demushu and Redyue are psychos, while Rosyuo is someone merely bitter and jaded about his species, and realizes his previous mistakes, which means Rosyuo is the Overlord that is easier to reason, the one that Kouta'd like to seek. Rosyuo himself is a parallel to Takatora, as both wanted to create a better world, but Rosyuo is someone who had suffered the consequences of his misguided approach as his world is filled with the strong hunting the weak, leaving him with nothing but his ruins and the remaining subjects who are psychos. While Takatora didn't instantly get what he wants, conversing with Overlord does give him more insights here as Takatora may get an insight about how disastrous it can be if Project Ark is done, or furhter more information about Helheim, as Takatora incorrectly assumes that Helheim created those ruins before. As Gaim and Ryugen reaches Helheim, as Kaito predicted, Ryugen suggests for them to split up, but although Gaim did take Kaito's words into consideration, Ryugen still convinced Gaim to let them split, assuring him that he'll call Gaim if anything happens. Ryugen goes back to the real world to meet up with Sid, who turns out to be not in Helheim, using the warehouse as a good hiding spot. Micchy asks for Sid's motivation to gain forbidden fruit, which puzzles Sid as he claims no one will refuse the power of god. This contradicts Sid's claim before that adults will question power given to them for free unlike the kids he look down, as well as Micchy prefering for godlike power to serve him instead, still prefering to gain power in form of influence and manipulation. Sid approves of kids who think alike, praising him as little monster, and asks for his help to dispose their mutual enemy in Kouta. Micchy plans to fight Kouta as Zangetsu Shin, as Kouta wouldn't be able to strike back. Sid points out Kaito as someone who will interfere, so Micchy suggests Sid to hold off Kaito. Micchy's turn into dark(er) side by switching from Ryugen to Zangetsu Shin is also symbolized by him wearing matching white sweaters in his civilian attire, and aside from him using stronger Rider, it's another manipulation to abuse Kouta's trust with his previous bond to Takatora, gaining himself further upper hand. Gaim Jimber Peach Arms senses something, which is Baron nearby, who gets ambushed by Sigurd. But suddenly he hears Micchy calling for him, claiming to be attacked by Zangetsu. Gaim is further puzzled, and it's even worse that he likely didn't know yet that Takatora is Micchy's older brother, which likely would make Gaim question why would the older brother attack their family. Micchy switches from Ryugen to Zangetsu Shin, who confronts Gaim. There's Baron using Spear Victory, Sparking version to spam multiple banana projections where one of them hits Sigurd. I'd admit this one as one of the cooler ones with the range it covers. Baron switches his belt to Genesis Driver, to turn into Baron Lemon Energy Arms, which surprises Sigurd. I think this is a rare case of Riders taking their belt off.. without de-henshin into their human form...so that's how Baron upgrades himself, more efficient than I thought. Not only by Takatora before, Sigurd's lack of skill/experience is his undoing against Baron here too, which Baron himself lampshades as he gains the upper hand. As Gaim gets hit by Zangetsu's attack, he remembers Kaito's words into account, that he can only rely on his own strength, who Gaim denies, pointing out that he's only made it because of the mutual trust between himself and his friends. But Gaim's thought here is a dramatic irony as said trust is being abused by Micchy here to make Micchy free to beat him up while he's shaken by Takatora's apparent "betrayal". Though still keeping his belief, Gaim finally fights back, as he realizes that he can't die here, upgrading into Jimber Lemon Arms, and actually schools Zangetsu in fight, ending with an Au Lait slash finisher. Micchy is stunned and loses his composure as his plans fail; Gaim turns out to value his life enough to fight back, and furthermore, Micchy is not as good of a fighter as Gaim or Takatora, where the latter can fight Gaim Jimber Lemon Arms to a standstill, showing how much Takatora outclasses Micchy in skill, and as soon as Micchy's manipulation is dispersed, he'd get his just desserts. This is also perhaps Gaim applying the lesson to take care of himself in the earlier part of the series, to defend himself even if he's shaken by current situation or former partner, better implemented here than the words of him claiming to fight for himself in ep. 5 to join Ryugen's fight with Baron. But doesn't mean that the fighting is done to finish off the enemy completely, where Gaim questions Takatora the reason of his betrayal, as he's interrupted by Demushu joining the battle, focusing on Gaim. Zangetsu calls Sigurd to change plans as the Overlord has arrived, but is intercepted by Baron, who doesn't take someone leaving a battle midway well. Sigurd leaves the fight anyway with Baron chasing after him. There's Redyue watching the fight too. Demushu overwhelms both Gaim and Zangetsu, using his mist ability to track the latter and then raining fireballs on them, noting that the Riders are more spirited before but are cowards now. Micchy laments again about his plan always being interrupted, as Sigurd fights Demushu. Baron catches up to them, with Baron and Sigurd quarreling about who fights the Overlord. Baron however isn't above teaming up like he did before, as he assigns Gaim to hold off Sigurd while he fights Demushu. Sigurd jumps into Demushu's fight, but is intercepted by Gaim as he didn't intend to kill the Overlord, especially regarding Takatora and an Overlord's conversation above. But a new big danger happens as a crack appears nearby, and Demushu ventures to it. The episode ends with a Kikaiger appearence as the next episode isn't canon...
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06-23-2021, 10:30 PM | #16660 |
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So, did another binge of episodes for Kamen Rider Saber.
The Primitive Dragon Arc (Episodes 23 to 28): So let's talk about Ogami first since well, his leaving the organization stuff was started back during the Charybdis episodes and concludes at the start of this new arc. I still love Buster, not only cause he's an actual dad Rider but he's also a dad to the other members of the team. Especially to Rintaro and Ren, and he tries his hardest to make sure they're doing alright and I love that. There isn't much to say though given well, it was a given he'd leave soon after Daishinji given the two are old friends. But I do like that it's Sora who pushed his dad into confronting Touma so the two could have one big duel to settle things. Speaking of, and I'll get to more of this later, I love the dueling aspect of Saber. Next we have Reika who, while is mostly just the straight laced rule enforcer, is also our female Rider for the season Sabela. Admittedly the one big downfall of Sabela I feel, and Durandel later, is that they're powers are too OP. So despite their big first appearances, the show sorta has to dumb down their powers a bit when it comes to their kits in later fights. Which is a shame, but Sabela certainly makes a strong impression here. Another guy who makes a strong impression is Kento who returns with a new power up, Forma Saco de Patatas. Jokes aside on his fit, I do love what they did with him here. And maybe I'll get aggravated later but I don't really mind how stubborn Kento is? Because like that's his whole character flaw, add in the trauma of seeing multiple bad futures and well, his actions make sense. It could honestly be worse, way worse... *stares at a certain magical girl anime* I also want to talk about Legeiel a bit, mostly because I really love how cleverly they've been weaving him in particular through the story. Storious is the schemer, Zooous is the battle hungry hunter, and Legeiel is the prideful warrior. Pride is the key word since he starts taking a lot of hits to his ego due to his constant failures. His big plan during the first quarter with opening the way for Daichi? Foiled, his first big play with the Yeti Megid, thwarted and he also got smacked around a lot by Touma and Yuri. Then we get to Primitive and well... he just keeps taking beating after beating, his pride and ego growing more damaged as he gets so desperate he goes for a power up that will literally kill him if he fails. I just sorta like him a lot and how he pretty much pushed a self-imposed rivalry onto Touma. He's not the deepest character but he's strong enough to where he makes a fitting opponent to die against the new power-up. But the big meat of this plot is Primitive Dragon, which is a berserk form, and I know we've gotten a lot of these as of late. But this one works out a lot more than the others, cause while most end up as mild inconveniences that are settled relatively quickly, Primitive Dragon takes its time. It also goes for a more animalistic approach instead of cold calculating machine. So we really get some real good shots of Saber just jumping, leaping, smacking things with his sword head, just full on jumping on a dudes shoulders. Real good stuff. It makes me hope we get more of this with our next Rider. There's just all the little things, the misdirection of what it truly is at the beginning, the real details slowly flowing through with the little hints. The fact that it's sentient and will just force Touma to use it, to the point where it will last minute replace the book Touma's trying to transform with so he transforms with it instead. And just the idea of Touma reaching out to the boy, which is symbolized in Elemental Dragon via the holding of hands. I'm also a Symphogear fan so like, this was great for me to see since holding hands is also a big thing in that series. But switching to Elemental Dragon, I do like how it's a culmination and product of Touma being an author. Him adding to Primitive's Story and creating Elemental, it works well to Touma's Novelist background. It's also nice how the story about how the dragon's friends is now nature itself translates into the power set of Touma being able to utilize the various elements of nature. Also it gets a really cool fight scene set to the OP Theme and what's not to love about that? Oh and I also watched Episode 28 but that was mostly a recap with some extra new details and setup for the next Arc of Saber, Kamen Rider Blades. But I'll get to that later. I just lumped it up into this watch since there wasn't much to the episode aside from tons of foreshadowing. |
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