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05-12-2021, 06:43 AM | #121 |
Yodonna oshi
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 748
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No need to apologise, it's notoriously difficult to gage nuance on the internet. I saw an article somewhere about a man who had a room in his house where no technology dating from after the year 1994 was allowed to be used, and I think I'd be pretty much be okay with that.
Ah, but we're distracting Kamen Rider Die from this grand Kiva re-watch, and I can't risk derailing this thread as I am literally sitting on my hands until mention of later episodes occurs, so I'll be quiet now and try to stay on topic. |
05-12-2021, 08:43 AM | #122 |
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 05 - “DUET: STALKER PANIC”
It’s a great choice, though? It’s the most testosterone-soaked episode I can imagine, where every man in it is locked into bizarre approximations of masculinity, vainly trying to fit into some shape that literally no one is asking them to fit into. Nago is ostensibly keeping an eye on Megumi because he thinks Kiva will rescue her again (he’s right, very genre savvy), but it’s mostly just so he can crush her spirit and prove his superiority. Wataru is so blinded by the need to channel Nago’s Big Dad Energy that he agrees to stalk Megumi. Otoya’s limitless pride is wounded by Zanki’s leather-clad beatdown, so the two of them engage in an epic street fight that Yuri leaves halfway through. And then there are multiple Fangires abducting our heroines, and they are (hilariously) the least-regrettable elements of this story.\ The things these dudes are doing in this episode… they are all terrible. They all have this idea on what a man should do, and how a woman should be grateful for that decisiveness, and it’s all pathetic. Wataru is the only one who realizes his mistake, feeling equally bad for disappointing Work Dad and Work Mom. That scene, with Wataru moping in the tub, it actually leads into a scene that felt disconnected to me at first, but now I think it’s the key to Wataru’s arc in this story. Quote:
I don’t know that anyone is specifically out of character, weirdly, which is maybe a damning thing to say about this episode. (An episode I liked! I feel like I’m going to have to keep saying that!) Nago trying to control Megumi is pretty much expected from him at this point, but the whole gaslighting thing about her not really disliking him, she’s just jealous of his greatness, that is a new wrinkle.
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Wataru being easily misled (and way too trusting of confident men) is also well-established. I don’t know if I love him never once saying Hey Is Megumi Actually Okay With This while he monitors her in a pool or rifles through her belongings, but again: way too trusting of confident men.
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Except for Megumi and Yuri, who are pretty much the voices of reason for this episode. (Shizuka’s only in one scene, because if she continued in the Wataru plot she’d shut it down in about two seconds.) It’s up to them to constantly reframe what’s happening as horrible decisions men are making, not anything for their benefit. Megumi gets the scene of the episode, when Nago tries to blame Wataru for spying poorly on Megumi when Nago told him to, and Megumi just goes No One Should Have Been Spying On Me You Idiots.
But does Shizuka also... have physical prowess like the other 2 ladies to jump in that height? Even I've never jumped on that height. Regarding her scene with Wataru, it also shows that Wataru is a hated person by the public, due to him (I expected Wataru to deliver... but he's actually one of the dreadful musician trope!) bringing odd ingredients for the violin, albeit I don't understand why the people talk about his smell (or if it's the subbing) instead...
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05-12-2021, 10:08 AM | #123 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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To paraphrase Inoue, Zanki is Zanki. Quote:
And well, I'm not the one to glamorize majority vs minority (better not happen in anyone), that ironically compared to the others who talk about Kiva being sexist, you talk about totally opposite thing of "men = useless, women = level-headed" (but I don't condone bias as well, I can't guess if this is an apologist view for Kiva as it's an Inoue-written show..)
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(Also, uh... I was not 100% clear on if Nago was going to be Ixa. I love the enthusiasm everyone has for where Nago's story is headed, but if we can maybe keep the discussion to the things that've appeared on the show, that would be great. Thanks!) Quote:
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Regarding her scene with Wataru, it also shows that Wataru is a hated person by the public, due to him (I expected Wataru to deliver... but he's actually one of the dreadful musician trope!) bringing odd ingredients for the violin, albeit I don't understand why the people talk about his smell (or if it's the subbing) instead...
Also, I'd assume the smells of the stuff he's been using to create a finish for his violins have now permeated his clothes and his house. If you brew up a gigantic pot of fish stock (let alone dog poop), it's going to cling to everything.
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05-12-2021, 10:09 AM | #124 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,089
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Dark Necrom P? That's unfair criticism, IMO. Alia's Rider form is well, pink version of Necrom, and it had identical stats. AFAIK, iirc (this can be a flak for Rider series) only the main Riders and sometimes secondary Riders got much needed upgrade against escalating threats, and only those Riders can face them, and Dark Necrom P was fighting Ganmaizers, they're the gods of Ghost, and only Ghost Mugen can deal with them.
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Haha, good one!
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05-12-2021, 04:53 PM | #125 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,506
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The best part of Kiva so far is probably Mamoru aka THE BOSS and Akira aka THE CAFE OWNER's constant fued over each other's body fat.
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05-12-2021, 04:56 PM | #126 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Forgot about that! Definitely a staple of Inoue's comedy writing; finding something so specific and so weird yet kind of normal and then making it so matter-of-fact. Fun quirk
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05-12-2021, 05:23 PM | #127 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,546
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There’s even a good deleted scene where in 86, Mamoru tells Kido he should lose weight, to which Kido refuses. Cut to 08, and Mamoru is bemoaning that despite them being the same age, Kido hasn’t aged a day in 22 years.
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05-12-2021, 11:19 PM | #128 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER KIVA EPISODE 06 - "REPLAY: EVERY PERSON GIVES OFF MUSIC”
It's not a perfect episode (I don't know that the Sheep Fangire really comes together as a character; pretty weird that Nago just 100% bails on this story after Megumi gets captured), but it's exactly the episode I needed right now. That middle section, you know? Where all the cross-cutting between timelines ceases to feel chaotic and instead becomes illuminative, a brilliant burning thread stretching across the decades to unify four people in the defense of life's eternal beauty. It's such a perfect moment, and it's an incredibly Inoue message. The whole episode is, which is why I'm going to be raving about more than just that one scene. It's an episode that values empathy and resilience over aggression and selfishness. It's a story about the value in letting yourself be vulnerable, and how that forges a greater connection than bluster or dominance. The second you stop trying to control other people, that's when you can work with them to achieve something special. But that middle section! It absolutely eradicated any misgivings the last episode gave me about our core cast. (I mean, not Nago. He's still a controlling jerk, but he's not really in this episode.) It's when Otoya and Yuri are tied up in 1986, while Wataru and Megumi are tied up in 2008. The symmetry of it all is great, and worth all the contrivances of the plot. Wataru and Otoya have both failed in different ways to free the women that've been captured. Otoya went in swinging, and got knocked out in short order. (I guess he's only a good fighter when he has Yuri's gear?) Wataru went in with kindness, and got captured. (As unhelpful as that ended up being, I do appreciate that the show had Wataru offer himself as a trade. It's so innately decent that I can't for a second fault the show for doing it.) Both men mope over their losses, while both women find the strength to keep fighting. It's a great moment for both women. And then it just keeps evolving. As they're working to get out of their bonds, Yuri takes a minute to ask Otoyoa why he's so much That Way. Why is he expending so much energy on a woman that vocally despises him? (I mean, dude got captured by a decorative vampire monster trying to save her!) Otoya's been more subdued this episode, genuinely concerned for Yuri's safety, so we get to see him in a bit more of a contemplative mood. He says that everyone gives off music, and he likes the music she gives off. It's corny. It is so corny. It honestly brought tears to my eyes. He's so earnest when he says it to her, this way of seeing the world as a constant symphony, and her singular place in it for him. It's so vulnerable and sweet that Yuri can't help but smile to herself about it, even after Otoya ruins the moment by reaffirming his irritating need to woo her at every turn. It's a more human side to Otoya, a pure belief in everyone's value, as well as a deeper connection with Yuri. It's such a strong moment for these two characters. And then it just keeps evolving. Back in 2008, Wataru is trying to understand why Megumi does what she does, where she gets her strength. And she tells him about something her mother used to say, about everyone giving off music, and how she feels the need to protect that music, or something, she doesn't really know what it all means. It's a breezy explanation, so typical of Megumi (she's always got a different move!), that connects all four of our heroes. It's a thing Otoya said to Yuri, that Yuri said to Megumi, that Megumi said to Wataru. It's a theme that trickled down from a slimeball in 1986 to his heroic son in 2008. It's... I mean, again, tears in my eyes. It's a boy who needed direction, finding it in the words of his father, delivered by a woman he can look up to. That little moment at the end was maybe as powerful for me. In a story where Wataru looks for masculine strength to provide structure and approval, he finds his heroism instead in Megumi; in vulnerability and empathy and recognition and perseverance and respect. When he plays his violin for her in the hospital, it's him acknowledging her place in his world, the value of her guidance. It's not him trying to play for a room full of strangers, proving to the world his fortitude. It's him appreciating someone who helped him, letting himself be weak around her to show his inner strength. Honestly, everything with Wataru and Megumi and Yuri and Otoya was killer for me. The way both Yuri and Megumi never buckled under the weight of their predicament, always pushing forward towards success... such amazing characters. (And that musical cue that played over both of the Every Person Gives Off Music speeches! I love it so much! Best piece of music this show has done outside of the main theme!) All four of our main cast members had an exceptional outing here. Not just them, though! We got to see Zanki go full Clawolve (that's the singular of Clawolves, I did not check the wiki) in a forest brawl that... I don't know, it was alright. I was already so dialed into the episode emotionally that any fight scenes felt almost tacky to me. It climaxed at that middle section, and the aftermath of that sequence was not super memorable to me. Part of it is that I like dialogue in my fight scenes, and neither Kiva nor Zanki like to chatter. (Kiva did make a fun little noise when he shattered the frozen Sheep Fangire, but that's not really dialogue.) The fights themselves are decent, and Kiva got a new Gun Form here, but there's just not enough character to the fight scenes for me. I like 'em better when they talk! Otherwise, yeah, boy, real winner of an episode for me. It's sweet in all the ways the previous episode was sour, with the Yuri/Megumi bond becoming the scaffolding that steadies Wataru. It's an episode that lets Otoya be both a joke and an inspiration, which is a balance the other episodes have struggled with. (This was Otoya's best episode to date by a mile.) And, man, having Wataru learn a lesson about how to be a good man directly from his father, but via Yuri and Megumi... yeah, exactly the kind of story I wanted to see Kiva tell. Very happy tonight.
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05-13-2021, 12:41 AM | #129 |
New Member
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Evanston IL.
Posts: 95
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You mean Wolfen not Clawolve.
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05-13-2021, 12:46 AM | #130 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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That doesn't sound right (he looks like way more of a Clawolve than a Wolfen) (also, what would the plural of Wolfen even be, Wolfens? Wolven? Wolvesen?) but, like I said, I didn't check the wiki. You can totally call him a Wolfen if you want! We all process art differently!
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