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03-19-2022, 12:51 PM | #241 |
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I think it's also... like, Sougo was put in a position to gain power, find confidence, and battle for his sense of justice. Those were all maybe bad things to do for a kid who might become a genocidal warlord! But the Time Orphans just assumed that creating an environment for Sougo to grow ethically was the solution to Oma Zi-O, instead of maybe the creation of Oma Zi-O?
Oh, just remebered. The hiding under the blanket thing? Ripped straight out of a Wizard episode, even in an hospital I think. Love details like those!
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03-19-2022, 01:00 PM | #242 |
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KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 8 - ?BEAUTY & BEAST 2012?
The entire tone of the show changes without Tsukuyomi around, starting immediately with Geiz blaming everything on Sougo?s weakness. He?s furious that Sougo?s lack of decisiveness ? his tentativeness ? has let Tsukuyomi get hurt and Hayase escape. Geiz vows to solve this Time Mission by doing what he does best: wandering around Tokyo until he runs into one of the three people that are related to these unfolding events. Woz is a helpful fan to Sougo, but he would be at odds to Geiz and Tsukuyomi's goals. The setting being about someone who's a cheerful hero in present time but tyrannical villain in the future creates a quite interesting premise that various people of different alignment can "flock" around Sougo, like how Woz is a villain for now but he's a constant help to the protagonist due to him trying to groom said tyrannical villain. But being a villain would make him an enemy to other major casts like Geiz and Tsukuyomi. Woz is affable to people like Geiz though, albeit in troll-ish way. Quote:
The lack of Tsukuyomi?s peacemaking tendencies should force Geiz and Sougo to collaborate, to put their differences aside and work together, but the show goes a different, stranger, smarter way. It?s not a story about Sougo?s sweetness overcoming Geiz?z sourness, or the two of them becoming the teammates Tsukuyomi hoped for.
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It?s a story about the allure of power, and the ways we lose ourselves when we think we can do anything.
Sougo has a really strong outing, from one perspective. He harnesses the knowledge of Woz and the power of Geiz to bring hope to Hayase. Another Wizard is defeated, but Hayase is saved through Sougo?s bravery and empathy. Woz and Geiz are both surprised by Sougo?s inventiveness and knack for leadership. He's confident in his abilities, and willing to argue for his sense of right and wrong. It?s a solid win for our Good Despot. This is quite a nice reversal of usual stereotype that someone who's em-pathetic and puppy dog like Sougo is usually portrayed as the one that is easily manipulated, and that someone morally questionable like Geiz is portrayed as the one that is more sensible and mature. But for this series, it's not only that Sougo's kindness isn't weakness, but it's Geiz who is the one easily manipulated (by Sougo here) exactly due to his black and white mentality. Being someone fueled by hate and pragmatism can have them being easily manipulated too, not only the one who is empathetic and kind. Unfortunately, this competence of Sougo would convince Geiz more that he's a threat. Quote:
The idea that Sougo?s relentless optimism and cheerful empathy isn?t the detour from the road to Oma Zi-O ? but the direct route to it ? is a fun idea. Hayase was someone who took power to protect the people he cared about, until that turned into rage at being overlooked. He was fine working for others, to bring them hope, until he resented their ingratitude. The Sougo we know in Episode 7 could never become that type of character; could never lose his empathy.
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03-19-2022, 01:25 PM | #243 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Sougo should definitely be modeling his heroic entrances off of Haruto, because nobody makes heroic entrances as well as he does. Dude is just the coolest, what can I say?
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03-19-2022, 01:29 PM | #244 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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I've mentioned in a couple of those old posts how the dynamic of being a viewer watching Zi-O kind of has some broad similarities to how Geiz, you know, watches Zi-O, and much like he realized Sougo is capable of far, far more than he was giving him credit for, this plot made me start to consider the potential of this show as more than just hypothetical.
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I'll also mention here, because it seems like a good spot, how much I love the Dopant model of Rider monster? It's just my taste in heroism, I guess, but I like seeing evildoers stopped, rather than outright destroyed, and as Zi-O's Another Riders have already demonstrated a few times, including here, it lets you do stories where the villain is also one of the people the hero is trying to save, which is an interesting dynamic, and just makes things feel so much more human and intimate.
It's also more complicated to do, so I'm always grateful when a show makes it a core part of their storytelling. It's easy to do (and I love this show, but) Agito-style storytelling, where a monster shows up to murder people, and the heroes have to deduce the pattern in time to save at least one victim. It's more compelling to do a story where terms like Victim and Monster don't land where you think, or are even synonymous. It just creates more diverse, ambiguous stories, which is a positive thing to do. Quote:
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Like, I think it's important to acknowledge that Geiz and Tsukuyomi are helping to turn Sougo into (maybe!) Oma Zi-O, which is the nicely ironic twist at the end of Episode 8.
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03-19-2022, 02:03 PM | #245 |
Master Procrastinator
Join Date: Sep 2015
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It's really funny that they ended up making the abrasive, grim executioner the secret POV for the audience. Bold move! Definitely helped with the reveal, though.
Yeah, that's my preference, too. I'm more into stories that are Let's Fix This Problem instead of Let's Detonate This Monster. It allows for more thoughtful, empathetic storytelling. It's holistic, rather than hostile, which I appreciate. So I will divide them into 3 categories. 1. Monsters. They are monsters full stop. Their only purpose is to die. 2. Former People. They were people. They are now monsters. See above. 3. People. They are people who can transform into monsters. They can be turned back into people again and saved. Some shows use multiple types, so I will have them under both their indivual categories and their own. That's why the math won't work quite right. I will use the 20 Hesei and 3 Reiwa shows, as well as the original Kamen Rider. I don't know enough about the rest to put them into categories. I won't include Amazons. I also didn't bother with Decade, since he just borrows from other shows. So the totals are: Monsters: 14 Former People: 6 People: 10 Mixed: 6 Some interesting things, of the ones I know, the People category has only appeared since Neo Hesei and is the most common one after that point, with 10 out of 13 shows using it. Before that, the Monster category was overwhelmingly the most common. There's also an interesting trend for Reiwa shows that I will put in spoilers since in ever case this is not immediately shown. All of them have been a mix of at least 2 types, accounting for half of the mixed ones total. Last edited by catwhowalks; 03-19-2022 at 02:38 PM.. |
03-19-2022, 02:18 PM | #246 |
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Yeah, noticed that on a rewatch of Wizard for one of my fanfics. I wanted to do a crossover with Wizard and I thought "Hey, you know how I could write Haruto properly? Just rewatch all 53 episodes of Wizard! That will be a good timeinvestment for using him in 6 chapters!" Which I did xD Sometimes I think I just have too much time on my hand But hey, it amde me notice this one detail! Clearly worth it!
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I think it's more that he's become a cunning manipulator, not that he always was. We've started a journey with Sougo, and that journey has already helped him feel more confident in pursuing his dream. Previously, he was content to just assume he'd be a king someday, and it's dopey and worrisome. But now that he's fought and struggled and overcome adversity -- thanks to going on Time Missions, a thing he probably would've never done without Geiz and Tsukuyomi showing up in 2018 -- he's a more capable person than he used to be. He however has far more of a drive than in episode 1 that pushes him to do it more often. I'd say it's just something that with his current situation is gonna happen more often simply because he fights to save people from themself now.
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03-19-2022, 04:00 PM | #247 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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I actually dissagree. Sougo was always someone who just gets people and what they will do. His speach about how Sento would always become Build, no matter what is probably the first big indicator of that. Sending Geiz to fight Another Faiz because he knows that it will help him get closer to him is another. He just pushes people in the direction he wants them to be.
He however has far more of a drive than in episode 1 that pushes him to do it more often. I'd say it's just something that with his current situation is gonna happen more often simply because he fights to save people from themself now. But for the rest, I think I meant it more that he's unlocking something within himself as a result of his journey, not that he's learning new skills or habits. He could've been this guy five years ago, if only the Time Orphans had shown up then. A lot of the series is (like most time travel stories) wrapped up in questions of destiny, and Sougo's increasing confidence and strategizing is maybe not as inevitable as Woz might suggest.
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03-19-2022, 04:11 PM | #248 |
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KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 9 - “GENM MASTER 2016”
I think this is the first episode to really interrogate the idea of a Good Despot, and it made for one of the better uses of that part of Sougo’s character. It’s an intensely stupid idea, a Good Despot. It’s insane that Sougo, a student of history, should look at centuries of bloodshed and subjugation and go But Maybe They Meant Well. It’s making a case for fascism, for authoritarianism: that One Good Person should be in charge of everything, forever, and we’ll all be better off for it. But this episode starts to explain how Sougo could be deluded enough to think that it’s super neat to secede from Japan and declare yourself sovereign ruler of your own breakaway republic -slash- mansion. It’s because he’s literally too sweet to see the bad in people. Much like last episode took the Hero’s Journey part of a Kamen Rider series – the whole Making Friends and Finding Collectibles part – and turned it towards an intensely foreboding future, this one starts to look at the downside of boundless enthusiasm and limitless empathy. Sougo can’t conceive of anyone having the power and authority of a king, but not using it to make everyone’s lives better. It literally doesn’t occur to him. The fact that people could be hurt by it, or that the person in charge could choose to hurt people… that’s the most absurd thing in this story to Sougo. But he also knows that, unfortunately, he could become that guy. Geiz tells him repeatedly that Oma Zi-O is a merciless tyrant, and Geiz is not one to exaggerate for dramatic effect. He can’t understand that motivation of his future self. He reads about Nobunaga – whose last name might as well be Ambition – and only sees the positive outcome, not the compromises made along the way. He needs to know why someone would choose to use their authority and power for negative reasons. Enter Kuroto. He’s a brilliant choice, for no other reason than he is so OBVIOUSLY a megalomaniac that it, at first, makes Sougo seem even more obtuse than normal. This isn’t someone who seems nice, and Sougo fell for the ruse. This is a dude who cackles maniacally and imprisons dissenters. This is someone who beats women that he plans to force into marriage. He’s a villain, and the most unsubtle one imaginable. Which makes him the perfect person for Sougo to study under. Sougo needs to see what not to do, and Kuroto is the most blatant What Not To Do character in maybe all of Heisei. Working alongside a Bad Despot, even briefly, is a way for Sougo to understand where he might go wrong, where he could lose the empathy that he thinks could be what keeps him from becoming Oma Zi-O. It’s a crazy plan, of course. It’s Sougo thinking the ends justifying the means, just like Geiz was afraid of. I imagine Sougo is biding his time before betraying Kuroto (just like in the Nobunaga anecdote), but in the meantime, people are being hurt. Just like last time, we’re in a very nebulous space for Sougo’s character. On the one hand, he’s all smiles, every single scene. He’s confident that he knows what he’s doing, and that what he’s doing is right. But he’s also cozying up to a lunatic, and battling his teammates. He’s so sure that he’s right, that he doesn’t seem too broken up about injuring the people who’d stand against him. This show’s doing some really smart work adding depth and shading to one of its most tricky character choices, and I’m incredibly excited to see how Sougo continues to evolve. Or, uh, maybe devolve? — KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 9.5 - “KINGS, GODS, AND EXECUTIVES” We’re at near Peak Kuroto in this short. (It’s a bit less than the main episode, where he’s clearly like Kuroto + Desire = Way More Cackling.) He’s not a character you really interact with, this version. He’s a character you withstand. Woz and Sougo do a decent job of existing in a scene with so much charisma! And it’s a funny little short. Woz and Sougo are both goofing around a bit here (there’s a Woz ad-lib that causes Sougo to break character for a second), and I’m always a fan of these shows trying to sell merchandise directly. I can spend a page talking about the thematic resonance or intriguing character arc of an episode, but let’s never forget that these shows exist To Sell Toys. Solid short, because of – not in spite of – its blatant plugs for toys.
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03-19-2022, 04:25 PM | #249 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
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Okay, now this pair of episodes! This pair of episodes were the ones where I felt Zi-O was finally confident enough to actually started messing with the Legend aspect of the formula. Even if it is like, a big promotional campaign, what with them bringing in the Genm Ridewatch, them introducing a Legend Rider of sorts as Another OOO is an interesting thing that I found pretty cool and unexpected.
I know there are people who don't like this set of episodes, mostly because of the way Sougo acts in them but I just found them a great time. I mean I already liked OOO, and Genm's one of the Riders I like to see pop up time and time again. So sure, let's mix the two! Not to mention we continue to go into more interesting places with Sougo's character even if the decisions he makes... aren't exactly the most solid. Another OOO is also a design that makes me enjoy it. I think what helps is the designer in this particular case was the one who worked on the Greeed's and Yummy's, so you can definitely tell there's some influence from OOO here more than the other ones. And the plating on Another OOO's back too is a genius touch I love. Because it's clear what time OOO is based on, we all know that. These kids don't know that, and them thinking the crack on the 0 makes it a 6 is kind of genius. Anyway, we're still in a two for one in regards to BGM Swaps this set. But unlike the last one that just had Genm's OST, this time the Youtuber decided to add in Genm's actual Insert Theme for the swap. Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 10 Preview: |
03-19-2022, 04:44 PM | #250 |
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Y’know tying the theme of ambition with Nobunaga, OOO and Kuroto Dan is one of ZI-O smartest writing decision. It so fun to see Dan chew the scenery as guest character.
Speaking of Genm notice in the fight when Geis uses that form for a finisher there was no sound made when he clicked on the Riderwatch. Well that because the Watch wasn’t DX and made no sounds. And while talking about toys obviously Genm Armor is a repaint of the Ex-Aid Armor and that got a S.H Figuart made where Ex-Aid Armor didn’t lol. This is especially hilarious later down on the road I’ll explain why
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