|
Community Links |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
|
Thread Tools |
03-01-2024, 11:59 AM | #321 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,426
|
Quote:
As for this episode of W: I do not even slightly remember it. Kirihiko?s sister can definitely rock a trilby, though, and that is not a concept that should exist. |
03-01-2024, 12:49 PM | #322 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,430
|
Just got done watching episodes 31 and 32, and, look, I'm not doing this on purpose.
But I really did not like these two episodes for the most part. The Shotaro stuff is great, for sure, but I did not care at all for everything surrounding it. The catalysts for everything going on are things that I really just found to be stupid. Bito and his romance are things that the show portrays sympathetically when if I anything it just makes think of how stupid everyone involved is. Where it really got aggravating was how characters note how kind Sokichi was in handling the situation, when I'd argue otherwise. Sokichi outright went "Not my problem" on the whole thing which is not kindness, it's letting his client, someone he was portrayed as being obsessively caring about, go and ruin his own life over something not even remotely worth it. "Hell of a man" my ass. Meanwhile, when Shotaro tries to spare people's' feelings over the entire scenario, he's regarded as an idiot. It's an incredibly infuriating double standard made even more annoying by how I did not like Bito at all and wanted him to just get lost rather than learn any sort of lesson. Adding even more to the overarching plot of the show not being the best, Wakana is now back to her old self suddenly, making the whole drug trip ordeal pretty pointless. And if memory serves, the scenes with her here are the point in which she fully turns to the side of Sonozaki's', which makes even less sense. Either she's in her right mind or not, and the show sure as heck isn't about to take responsibility either way. But, it's not all bad. I did like how these episode very blatantly spell out how Shroud is being manipulative and always has been for anyone who didn't get why she does why she does, and again, Shotaro is wonderful here. His inner strength is on full display throughout this arc, wherein despite everything beating him down, he still does his best to do what he can, and keeps moving forward. That's one of the big lessons of the franchise as a whole, ontop of just being a wonderful character trait regardless. It's just such a shame that all the negatives really detract from the great scenes these episodes otherwise have. Sokichi singing "Nobody's Perfect" is, on paper, something that's really emotionally powerful. But in the context of the Bito stuff it's a lesson that really falls flat at best and is an incredibly problematic viewpoint to have in regards to active abusers and criminals at worst. Heck, I'd almost forgotten that these episodes actually contain one of my favorite scenes in the show: Philip telling Shotaro that he loves Shotaro for who he is regardless of anything. Whether one reads it as platonic or romantic, it's wonderful. Just... yeah. I really couldn't get past the negatives on this rewatch. Sorry.
__________________
|
03-01-2024, 12:57 PM | #323 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Where it really got aggravating was how characters note how kind Sokichi was in handling the situation, when I'd argue otherwise. Sokichi outright went "Not my problem" on the whole thing which is not kindness, it's letting his client, someone he was portrayed as being obsessively caring about, go and ruin his own life over something not even remotely worth it. "Hell of a man" my ass.
Like, this is just a noir love story, where a good man falls for a bad woman and pays the price for it, but he still fell in love with her. No one's going to argue sense into Bitou, you know?
__________________
Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
03-01-2024, 01:16 PM | #324 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,108
|
Quote:
KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 33 - ?Y?S TRAGEDY - THE WOMAN IN SEARCH OF YESTERDAY?
I did like the episode overall, though. Yuuko and Shotaro have instant, charming chemistry ? the two of them playing as cats was really sweet. The low-hanging fruit is pointing out that OF COURSE Shotaro would fall for a woman who wears a hat well, but he really seems to enjoy her willingness to embrace absurdity in the pursuit of an objective. She?s fun, in the same dumb, embarrassing ways that he?s fun. They?d?ve made a fun couple, if she actually existed. Quote:
Really, though, this isn?t an episode for delving into Yuuko/Yukie?s relationship with her late brother, or with her employment goals. It?s an episode for a pretty appealing action sequence? or is that two action sequences? The gimmick of running the fight back a second time, with Shotaro accidentally going on a rampage, is incredibly fun to watch. Keeping all the same choreography and dialogue is disconcerting, with a kind of hilarious inevitability that gets more tense as it goes along. As far as Dopant powers go, this is one of the most compelling and cinematic. Not sure what Yuuko/Yukie?s whole deal is yet, but I like her strategy! It?s honestly smarter than Isaka?s stuff so far!
Quote:
Magiranger is the one blemish on a year where we were gifted with Kamen Rider Hibiki, Garo, and Ultraman Max de gozarimasu desu. It?s not the worst Sentai I?ve ever tried to watch (Goseieger), but it?s not good in a way that?s even more obvious considering its contemporaries de gozarimasu desu.
__________________
心 と 刃 |
03-01-2024, 01:36 PM | #325 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
|
Quote:
Yuko even named her cat Kino, which is literally Japanese for Yesterday but also sounds like a totally normal name. I don't recall if this detail was actually mentioned in the episode or just something TV-Nihon put at the top of the screen, but I remember it for how Yuko managed to hide her secret villain identity in plain sight like that.
__________________
Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
03-01-2024, 02:36 PM | #326 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,426
|
It was the first Sentai I watched and I just thought it was really dumb coming in after Power Rangers RPM. I absolutely used to have a decent rant saved up about GoseiPink willing to let her teammates die because she was too busy baking a birthday cake, though.
|
03-01-2024, 03:48 PM | #327 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,108
|
Quote:
Quote:
__________________
心 と 刃 |
03-01-2024, 10:54 PM | #328 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
|
KAMEN RIDER W EPISODE 34 - “Y’S TRAGEDY - BROTHER AND SISTER”
Such a perfect episode! Right up until the last two minutes!!! Before that, though, it’s so good. Beautifully filmed, considerate in its characterization, moody without being maudlin or histrionic, keenly aware of its metaphor… it’s so good. It’s such a smart episode. For most of its runtime. Like, I can believe they actually got Kirihiko to come back for a scene? It wasn’t strictly necessary – this is a story about memory and letting go of the past, so he didn’t need to physically appear at all – but it’s a nice touch to include a pre-forcible divorce scene where Kirihiko calls his newly-established kid sister and makes sure she’s okay. It just pluses up that side of the story, and I respect the producers going the extra mile for it. Especially because this episode was already so good without it? The exploration of The Real Yukie is even more charismatic and compelling than the fake Yuuko from last time. She’s completely the woman that Shotaro would fall for – committed to her sense of justice, cunning in her execution of it, and preferential to hats and vests. (I thought that was just for Shotaro’s benefit, but she seriously wears them all the time?) She’s got a real Irene Adler thing going on throughout this, where she’s sort of into the game of manipulating Shotaro, just to see how long she can outsmart him. She’s never 100% honest with him, but she trusts him to see the truth of her regardless. And then we’ve got Saeko, who builds out the rest of this story about knowing when to let go of the past. While Yukie needs to put her vengeance to rest before it kills her, Saeko needs to kill Yukie to truly put Kirihiko behind her. She’s not exactly mourning Kirihiko, or regretting her role in his death (i.e., killing him), but defeating the vengeance of Kirihiko is another step towards becoming a more fearsome and remorseless villain. Speaking of, it’s actually pretty great to have Isaka show up as the final boss of this story, instead of Saeko. He’s here as the narrative’s replacement of Kirihiko, a refutation of his humanity and eventual decency. Isaka gets his ass handed to him as a tiny victory for a guy who loved Fuuto, but isn’t around to protect it anymore. A little gift, nothing more. And then we get the ending. I don’t know if I’ve ever groaned louder than when Shotaro narrated that Yukie was stricken by Narratively Convenient Amnesia, a heretofore unknown side effect of utilizing the Yesterday Memory. It’s not only such a gigantic cheat, a sloppy way of making sure that Shotaro’s New Crush doesn’t hang around the series for more than a two-parter, but it directly undercuts all of the character growth this entire story has been constructing for her. It’s important that she’s aware of her actions, so she can truly grapple with the weight of Kirihiko’s absence, and what her life looks like after vengeance. She has to choose to let yesterday go. Instead, she’s got amnesia, maybe someday she won’t, coffee gags, credits. It’s so frustrating to have a smart story rush through a stupid ending, and it makes me almost as mad as the rest of the story made me happy. I hate that this is the last thing I can talk about from this episode, her dumb Narratively Convenient Amnesia. I wanted the ending to be as smart and sad and beautiful as the rest of the story, but WOW was it not. I guess I’ll just have to let it go, in time. Or maybe I’ll hit my head and forget everything that happened. Either or! — DIE-A MEMORIES -Another gorgeously shot episode. Look at them screencaps! -Wakana’s fine now, everybody. Fun conclusion to that plot. -I like how mad at himself Philip is that he didn’t catch Yuuko’s pun pseudonym. I don’t think it’s a good one – Fuwa Yuuko = Who Are You, I really don’t think that’s how those syllables work – but Philip does not love being outsmarted, and that’s a fun shade for him to play.
__________________
Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
03-02-2024, 02:00 PM | #329 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,591
|
The first episode involving the fight against Yesterday and subsequent playback is honestly one of my favorite fights in this show. It's such a clever usage of scenery and a Dopant ability that it instantly sticks in my head. Likewise, I already knew the twist before the end of the first episode, mostly because that's one of the things I somehow remembered from W.
These are a really nice pair of episodes to be honest, and honestly I don't mind the ending too much because from how I've seen this show work, introducing Yukie so suddenly like this without any prior build up? She wasn't making it past this two-parter. But I do like how they at least leave an open door of maybe one day she'll remember. That being said the coffee gag we landed on at the end of the episode, I'll agree, was not really the best. I think if it had ended in a more wistful fashion, I'd call this set of episodes pretty good. The added Kirihiko scenes are really nice, and honestly just make me more annoyed at later events since this is a rather post-mortem to Kirihiko's story. Speaking of Kirihiko, I think it's time i finally deliver some sort of thought on Isaka since I feel Isaka fills a similar role what with his rank as a 3rd Party Commander. Which is to say... Terui's really doing all the heavy lifting in regards to anything regarding Weather isn't he? Like, the build up to him was good, clever and that came back in cool ways but... Isaka's kind of just not doing anything for me? Love the Weather Dopant as a design, but the dude is not hitting any kind of button for me to get excited about any of his confrontations. |
03-02-2024, 02:15 PM | #330 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
|
Quote:
Speaking of Kirihiko, I think it's time i finally deliver some sort of thought on Isaka since I feel Isaka fills a similar role what with his rank as a 3rd Party Commander. Which is to say... Terui's really doing all the heavy lifting in regards to anything regarding Weather isn't he? Like, the build up to him was good, clever and that came back in cool ways but... Isaka's kind of just not doing anything for me? Love the Weather Dopant as a design, but the dude is not hitting any kind of button for me to get excited about any of his confrontations.
(Some of this is also the larger problem of W's premise not really evolving in any serious way, with zero consistent escalation in either stakes or hostilities, but that's not really Isaka's fault.)
__________________
Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
|
TokuNation News & Rumors |
Kakuranger: 30 Years After |
ToyRise RyuKenDo |
Alternative Cut of "Day Of The Dumpster" Released |
Shodo SUPER Kyoryuger Teaser |
Figuarts/Seihou GRIDMAN |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:25 PM.
|