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01-08-2022, 01:09 AM | #16971 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 902
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36 episodes of Ryuki down, 14 to go.
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01-08-2022, 05:54 PM | #16972 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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I've made a habit of commenting on Shout Factory's Rider releases so far, so naturally I've been checking out their subs for Zero-One lately. I kind of expected this much, but unlike the previous three Rider shows that have gotten official subs from them, the legality is maybe the only thing you can really call an upgrade. Which isn't to say these are bad subs, because they're as good as always! It's just that fansubbers have stepped their game up and up over the years, so a series as recent as Zero-One already had at least one good translation. It's sort of a reversal from how I felt about something like Kuuga. Now the question I'm concerned with is how okay I feel about a translation I do like being supplanted by a new version, and based on the 16 episodes plus bits of later ones I watched, I'm totally fine with this, which is I think is solid praise. I'm going to nitpick some details a bit after this, but I'll reiterate: Shout's Rider subs are good. It's great that we have these shows available this way now, and if they end up making more people fans of Kamen Rider, then all the better. Zero-One in particular, I'm really happy to see get this treatment while it's still relatively fresh. Still, though, while I don't have anything major to comment on, I do wanna cover some observations I had. There are some fun stylistic choices to note, first of all. Fuwa's incessant use of the word buttsubusu is consistently translated as variations on him wanting to "smash" things, which is exactly what that word means. I'm mostly bringing it up because A) Over-Time's slightly looser "scrap" had an appropriately dehumanizing tone for Mr. I Hate Robots, which I do miss a bit, and B) "smash" makes Fuwa sound like the Hulk and I keep finding that amusing. Meanwhile, we have "that was a work of Aruto!" which I adore as wordplay, and sounds great as a comedic catchphrase, but it is worth noting it deviates enough from the actual meaning of "Aruto ja nai to!" enough to render a gag from the end of episode 5 a little... nonexistent? But like, that's inevitable with Aruto. They're trying their best with all the puns, and sometimes it's a little clunky in spots, because it's tricky to balance the need for equivalent gags with the need to still convey actual information. There isn't some easy, best way to handle that, so this isn't a huge deal in my opinion. If we're talking straight up mistakes, the only super glaring one I caught so far was in episode 9, where a line about Hiden not having any record of building Horobi and Jin is misconstrued as a non sequitur about there being no record of Horobi and Jin ever building HumaGears, which, for the record, both Over-Time and TV-Nihon got correct. (I couldn't help but check.) There's also a great bit of dramatic irony that gets lost in episode 7 when Valkyrie hands Zero-One the Freezing Bear Key, which was a bummer. The subs have it as her saying to "take the advice" of using the Key, which is good character voice for Yua and all, but the literal dialogue is "trust me", which I have to imagine isn't a coincidence in an episode that also highlights how Yua is the absolute least trustworthy character in the entire show at that point. But like I said about Ryuki, if I have time to worry about these kinds of details, it's only proving the larger truth here. To borrow a phrase, It's High Quality. It's like they're at 999% effort, and I'm Gai asking for that last percent. (Also! Before I move on, Find a New Life is subtitled on-screen, which is cool, but Now is The Right Time isn't, which is less cool.) Really, a lot of the reason I'm making this post isn't even about the subs. Like I mentioned, I watched the entirety of the show's run from 2019 again, you know, the golden age of Zero-One, as it were, and that's mostly just so much fun in its own right I thought I'd go ahead and say a little something about all the episodes. So! Zero-One 01 - Still one of the most solid premieres you could ask for from a Rider show. It's a little tricky to even know what to comment on that I haven't said somewhere else on here before. ...And also it's been like a week since I rewatched this one, so it's the hardest to remember fun little details about, which doesn't help. Still! Great episode with utterly glorious action capping it off. Zero-One 02 - The Rise Hopper is so cool, man! Like, it's yellow and black the way everything Zero-One has is yellow and black, so he looks great on it, and they gave it this whole awesome elaborate action sequence debut, and I'm glad it at least got that much love. Also Vulcan debuts here, of course. I still vividly remember the huge impact of the way Fuwa's initial transformation keeps cutting to Aruto and back. The contrast in their speeches is Takahashi writing at its finest! Vulcan's musical themes are Sakabe at his finest! Everything about the direction is Sugihara at his finest! Zero-One 03 - Valkyrie's debut fight is so cool! Like, it might honestly be my favorite of any of the Riders in the show. It does a fantastic job at making it clear that Yua is a professional in a way the other characters aren't, and hits me in all the right spots, being the sucker for super fast superheroes that I am. Yua also belittles Aruto for not knowing what she's doing holding her cellphone up to a HumaGear at the start, which comes off a bit a different by the end when it turns out that on top of ordering sushi, she was also hacking it to spy on Hiden Intelligence at that exact moment. So Yua is also kind of a condescending jerk and I don't like her! But she's so cool! And a jerk! But a cool one! Zero-One 04 - Fuwa gets an early start on being as Showa as possible here by teaching a bullied kid about the value of stubborn resilience above all else in a story that also digs into how he's motivated by a tragic past. I still really love this one! It's like all the different gears of the plot are spinning perfectly in tandem. It's great development for Fuwa's character, critical to the show's world-building, still makes room to develop Aruto, plus his relationship with Fuwa, and seeing that kid's dad get vindicated in the end is genuinely quite heartwarming. It's doing so much at once and making it all work. Even Horobi's cameo debut is super effective in its execution. Zero-One 05 - Flaming Tiger~! Still might be my favorite Zero-One form for some reason? I think I might just like anything in this show involving cats? Like, just get Fuwa a Jaguar Key and we can have a whole Gekiranger thing going on, it'd be awesome. Anyway, Masaya Kakehi wrote a lot of good episodes of this show, and his first is one of them too. Zero-One 06 - No, really, Kakehi wrote good stuff! His episodes in this first stretch dive really deep into the interactions between humans and HumaGears, and the results are often very dramatic and very thoughtful. This one in particular is a plot that you simply could not do in any other Rider show, making it not merely a stellar episode of Zero-One, but a stellar Zero-One episode, if you get the distinction. It's pretty heartbreaking watching Jin try and process everything he's Learning about family here, in light of Aruto's remark during their showdown in 16 that they might not have had to fight if Jin had just been brought up differently. Like, you can *see* how true that is right here. Jin almost has this huge breakthrough, only for Horobi to rip it all away. Great stuff, and I especially like the extra weight Aruto's role in this one has due to his own unusual parentage. It really comes across how personal everything happening is to him. Zero-One 07 - I don't have anything super particular to say about this one, so instead I'll just mention how much the overall format of this stretch of Zero-One appeals to me. I guess it's probably the detail of the setting shining through, but there's just something about the world of this show that really pulls me in. I love seeing Aruto and Izu going around seeing what some HumaGear in some line of work is up to. I love finding out how AIMS will inevitably get wrapped up in things. I love MetsubouJinrai hatching schemes (especially ones involving dodos, like this one.) Like, I remember wanting Zero-One to have the whole faction thing be more drastic than it ended up being, but looking back, it really did spice up the way the scripts play out. Little things like having to give Fuwa a reason to hang out with Aruto each week, or Yua's divided loyalties, they add a lot of texture to the stories while still keeping a nice flow. Zero-One 08 + 09 - Very solid first two-parter for the show. Vulcan getting completely annihilated by Horobi was a great debut for the latter (he even walks away from the explosion for max cool factor!), and a suitably BIG event for a cliffhanger. After that stretch of character-driven stuff from Kakehi, Takahashi goes for a sort of epic thriller thing here, yet still finds time to give all the characters their little bit of drama. It's a chance for Aruto to harden his resolve; for Izu to show a little humanity; for Fuwa to soften his stance on AI; for Yua to show she really does care, despite it all; for the mystery of MetsubouJinrai to start coming to the forefront... once again, a lot is happening, but it never feels cluttered, because all the elements are in support of each other. Zero-One 10 + 11 - More great human drama from Kakehi. The Dodo Magia's whole evolution over his all too brief run on the show was always intriguing to follow, and this is very much the height of that. One thing I don't think I originally clocked watching these episodes (because I can be dense this way) was how the dialogue in the show-within-the-show *always* matches up with what's happening in the story, which isn't exactly an original idea, but it's one I find always works. Really punctuates the events of the episodes nicely. Zero-One 12 + 13 - I read in an interview that Riku Sanjou only ended up writing these ones because Takahashi ended up taking longer on The First Generation than they expected, but man, in that case, I'm glad it worked out the way it did, because the Sanjou fun factor of these ones is amazing. Wazu has a ton of presence for a guy who only lasts two episodes, and Shining Hopper's debut highlights something I love about all three of Zero-One's major upgrades, which is how Aruto's relationship with HumaGears, and Izu in particular, is always at the very center of how he gains power. Zero-One 14 - The very first episode with all four of MetsubouJinrai's members together! What's that, you only see three? Well, looks can be deceiving. Anyway, Ikazuchi isn't my favorite dodo on this show, but he is fun, and I love Assault Wolf for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the heavy plot significance it ends up having. I also find it amusing that Shining Hopper leaves Aruto exhausted while Vulcan's upgrade has Fuwa puking up blood every time he uses it. I mean, both of them kind of get over it after a while, but like, man, are you guys getting powered up, or down? Zero-One 15 + 16 - Pretty textbook way to conclude a major arc. The decision to have Jin be the first "final boss" as it were, instead of the more obvious Horobi, was really unexpected, but worked out well partially because of that. Between wrapping up the ongoing drama in a satisfying fashion, and setting up a major turn in the status quo with Gai making himself known, it's hard to argue with what a great position Zero-One left itself in heading into 2020. ...And I'll probably see how it carried that momentum forward all over again, because I think at this point, I'm just going to be working my way back through the whole series when I get the chance to. I mean, I wrote all of this about a show I already talked about when it aired instead of like, finally saying something about Revice again, so evidently I'm quite fond of Zero-One. I'm not sure if I'll be popping in here all the time to talk about it this way, but it'll be neat having this excuse to revisit the series thanks to Shout! I mean, what could go wrong, besides the fact that I'm already struggling to find time to rewatch Fourze, and am now attempting to further divide my attention between that and everybody's least favorite arc of Zero-One? I'll make it work, I'm sure.
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01-08-2022, 06:49 PM | #16973 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Hey, not everyone's! But I guess my opinions on this show are always opposite to everyone else's...
Still, nice to hear that SHOUT's subs are keeping up the quality. Crossing my fingers they cover something next that really needs it like OOO, 555 or basically any Showa season
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01-08-2022, 07:20 PM | #16974 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,406
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They should do Blade next so that way we can know if hope is acute or not.
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01-08-2022, 10:38 PM | #16975 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Oh, and on the subject of Riders who need authorization to transform with the aid of satellites:
I just got done rewatching Meteor's debut two-parter in Fourze, and the contrast between the two characters is another thing I feel the need to properly gush about. I've probably mentioned before how much I liked the whole era of shows with just two completely different Riders, and Meteor is a fantastic example of that. Literally everything about him flips Fourze's shticks on their head. A white Rider against a black one. A Rider representing manmade space stuff against one representing the stuff naturally in space. A clumsy Rider who relies on a huge arsenal of tools against a skilled one who needs only his bare hands to fight. A Rider who couldn't hide his emotions if he tried against one actively putting up a front when he isn't transformed. ...And probably some other things I'm not even immediately thinking of. Meteor is so good. This show is so good.
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01-08-2022, 10:41 PM | #16976 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,406
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Whoever designed Meteor's' base suit deserves an award.
Meteor Storm not so much.
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01-08-2022, 10:58 PM | #16977 |
Henshin Heaven
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Inside a Hyper Battle Video, help.
Posts: 1,240
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Cool to see that Shouts subs for Zero-One are high quality, even if good subs already exist for the show. If nothing else, I'm excited to compare it to the Over-Time subs once my Blu-ray comes in and see whose subs I prefer, since I've really enjoyed both styles in the past. That one mistake you mentioned does seem quite unfortunate, but gaffs like that do slip through sometimes.
Anyways, I'm continuing on with my rewatch of Ryuki, and am through 38 episodes now. I said it before, and I'll say it again, the better subs have definitely improved my opinion on the show. I still think Ren is far more coherent a character than I ever realized before this, even if I don't think he is the best or anything. Generally I just get the whole angle of how desperate / psychotic the kinds of people fighting as Riders are way better because the dialogue communicates it so well. However... the show really does get dicier in the second half. I remember reading on Japanese Wikipedia at one point that one of the big appeals of Ryuki in Japan is the sense of "dissonance" in the story. I get where they are coming from, but at the same time after the third of so story tug-o-war between Kobayashi and Inoue plus both writers dropping a few cruddy episodes, I just start to think that the people who worked on the show simply didn't think the story and character arcs through in advance. There are a lot of parts where things simply happen... for no real reason. Asakura isn't feeding humans to his starving contract monsters even though it is briefly mentioned as a possibility in said episode? No real reason given, just there to fuel drama about Asakura possibly being a nice guy deep down. Random girl who wants to marry Kitaoka from an Inoue episode somehow becomes a major character who works at Ore Journal, a fact I completely forgot about because it causes me too much mental damage to process. The show reminds me a lot of Kabuto in that way, where things just happen because it is dramatic/funny, but I feel like Kabuto was a bit more... self-aware about its own absurdity? Ryuki tries to be so dramatic even when it is doing the silliest stuff sometimes, and it only occasionally gives the viewer that knowing wink that they are in on the joke too. I'm really not sure how much of an improvement from my initial watch I'll find this show in the end, since I know there's some very dumb stuff upcoming that the subs almost certainly can't salvage. I miiiight like Ryuki better than Gaim at least? I'll have to think it over as I go along.
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01-11-2022, 06:58 PM | #16978 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Aaaand they're up on the cat site!
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01-11-2022, 08:39 PM | #16979 |
Reiei
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 3,691
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Still love this movie. The subs just make it better.
Highlight scene is still every scene Hongo is in, but also the little moment of Touma in the "reality world". |
01-13-2022, 08:54 PM | #16980 |
Henshin Heaven
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Inside a Hyper Battle Video, help.
Posts: 1,240
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Wrapped up my Ryuki rewatch! It was... neat I guess. I'd give it a C+ grade, so I definitely liked it more than last time at least. The biggest point of improvement this rewatch?: I think Shinji and Ren are both actually really interesting characters, which is nice since I just thought Shinji was okay before and I absolutely hated Ren the first time I watched. The new subs did a lot better at conveying the kind of people they were, with Shinji being a nosy, loserish guy who means well and talks roughly and Ren acting rude and confrontational as a mask in order to try and seem like a tough guy who could win the fight. I particularly liked how clearly it came across that Shinji and Ren were ultimately not so different deep down, with the primary difference being Shinji was up-front about his conflicted feelings about the battle. Good stuff, I really came around to both of them this time! I also think a lot of the general themes of the show, about people desperately fighting for what they believe in, works very nicely.
In spite of getting a lot more out of the show as a whole this time, it is still ultimately Ryuki, which means that if I ever stop to think too long about the plot I remember how silly it is. I'm sorry guys, but there is absolutely no salvaging things like "abused children drew a monster dimension into existence and when one of them died their mirror counterpart replaced them but will die when she turns 20 for... reasons?" I think Ryuki is a show that has to be approached purely on an emotional level because of all the daft stuff like this, which I can't help but feel undermines the story. Even beyond that, the show's pacing can be very messy, with some parts dragging and others feeling very rushed, and this negatively impacts some characters too. I genuinely couldn't remember anything about Imperer before rewatching since he is THAT forgettable. On top of that, I definitely feel like the whole "wow, this Rider is also completely psychotic" shtick really wears out its welcome as the show goes on. As a closing note, I decided to pay attention to which episodes Inoue wrote this time, and he wrote almost every single episode where the story spontaneously took a turn for the dumb. I feel like his style of writing was a particularly bad fit for the story, unlike something like Kabuto, which already has an anything goes attitude.
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