#Koichi's Human Form

[randomrichards]

THE HUMAN CONDITION 3: A SOLDIER’S PRAYER

From a lost soldier

To a prisoner of war

A good man broken

[mirai-e-jump]

Figure King No.322 2024 Making Report of Kamen Rider Gotchard (pages and translation below, VERY LONG POST)

Publication: November 27, 2024

ft. Chief Producer Minato Yosuke (Toei), Heads of Documents & Literature Yamabe Koichi and Kaneko Shinichi (Ishimori Productions), Character Designer Kita Tojun (PLEX), and Producer of Toy Development Terakawa Ryo (Bandai)

Gotcha Youth Alchemy Journal Gotcha 1: The Combination of Rider and Youth

-Expanding on "touch points" and card demand-

"Fall of 2022…The broadcast of the TV series "Kamen Rider Geats" begins, where within the show, multiple people become Kamen Riders and take part in the survival game called the "Desire Grand Prix." Toei's Minato Yosuke was preoccupied as a Sub Producer, trying to establish the project of the new show "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger," which would start in March of the following year. In October, the "Virtual Production Division" was established at Toei Tokyo Studios. King-Ohger was an ambitious show that implemented new filming techniques through the use of LED walls. Minato was pushing forward with his work while getting a feel for these new techniques, but was forced to leave the project halfway through. This was because he had been appointed "Chief Producer" of the new Kamen Rider production that would begin in 2023. After working as a production assistant at anime studio Madhouse, in 2019, Minato joined Toei as a "full time tokusatsu Producer." Since then, Minato's been involved as an Assistant Producer on "Kamen Rider Zero-One" (2019), "Kamen Rider Saber" (2020), and "Avataro Sentai Donbrothers" (2022), but this was his first major role as Chief Producer. Likely due to the fact that he was appointed Chief within a few years of changing careers from the animation industry, he said he received a great deal of support when launching the project."

Minato: Shirakura Shinichiro from the Character Strategy Division and Tsukada Hideaki from the Drama Division participated and looked out for me in the form of advisers. As you're well aware, Shirakura's writing style and Tsukada's writing style are the complete opposite. Shirakura's the type of person who moves the story along through human relationships. I think Tsukada's characterized by his mystery drama format, where the build up of events lead to incidents being resolved. I refer to them as "the dragon and the tiger" (laughs), but they're such opposites, that I felt as if I had been worked twice as hard in such a short period of time due to their intense criticisms.

"Shirakura's the Producer behind many Kamen Rider productions, including "Agito" (2001) and "Den-O" (2007), and he was the driving force behind the branding of the Heisei Kamen Rider series. Meanwhile, Tsukada's produced hits in the Kamen Rider series, such as "W" (2009) and "Fourze" (2011), as well as many other TV dramas. Both also have experience as Chiefs of Super Sentai productions, and are indispensable figures in the history of Toei's tokusatsu productions."

Minato: Because of the way things unfolded, the idea of using cards as transformation items had already been proposed by the time I joined the project. I was told that it could change, but since I was super into "Magic the Gathering" during my entire school life, I thought I was lucky that we were going with the concept of card Riders.

"Joining the planning team as the head of toys was Bandai's Terakawa Ryo. After working in Gunpla promotion for many years up to that point, he became a developer in charge of Digimon and other figures."

Terakawa: We also felt that the environment for "having interest in watching these shows" had changed significantly. The company had been conducting their own surveys and found that the recognition of Kamen Rider had been declining year after year since the start of the covid pandemic. Given this situation, we at Bandai thought that what we could do was to increase the number of "touch points" through the toys. This would lead to greater visibility of the characters, and that the more people knew about the show, the more interest there would be in the toys. At the time, when we thought, "What's the easiest item to give to children who have never heard of Kamen Rider?," we decided that cards were the way to go. Cards can be produced at a low unit price, so along with them being easy for children to hold onto, they can be handed out for free at various places. We thought that if we could distribute them at events, in stores, and even put up "peel off posters" at places like large train stations and participating stores, that interested people would peel them off and take them home with them. If they had an actual card in their hand, they may become interested in Kamen Rider and be encouraged to watch the show. We couldn't just give out transformation belts (laughs), but cards are easy to distribute to a large number of people. That was the main reason that made us focus on cards.

"The cards are the ideal "size" to get children to recognize the Kamen Rider characters."

Terakawa: So far, Kamen Riders that have used cards were "Ryuki" (2002), "Blade" (2004), and "Decade" (2009), but it's been over 10 years since they've been used as "linked" items. That's when I felt like, "In that sense, wouldn't this be like a new experience for children?" For starters, cards are items that the Showa generation of Rider fans have a high affinity for. Calbee also released products with cards in them to line up with the release of the film "Shin Kamen Rider" (2023).

"The reason behind the implementation of cards was partly due to the rising marketplace for trading card games."

Terakawa: Even now, the market for card games is quite heated. The trading card games of various companies, including Bandai's own "One Piece Card Game" and "Battle Spirits" series have become so popular, that domestic card printing plants are operating at full capacity and are unable to keep up with production. The user base for purchasing third party games is expanding across all generations, and that excitement is also being passed onto children. Cards take up alot of floor space in toy departments and are easy to sell in convenience stores. As an example, it's pretty difficult to sell a 2,000 yen buckle, but a 200 yen card pack can be found at any convenience store. If it's a card, it can be sold with candy at an affordable price. It can also be sold with children's clothing, or as a bonus in magazines and other items.

-Reiwa Rider's Card Battle-

"The project was started in response to the enthusiasm of the card game market, but developing a transformation belt with a card based gimmick was extremely difficult. Minato, who at this point was in charge of the entire production, says that Ryuki was the first thing that came to mind when he started planning the card Rider project."

Minato: It was one of the shows that led me to becoming an otaku (laughs). I was in my second year of middle school at the time, and I was so absorbed in this show, that I even sent in a call to "Telegong" (a service where viewers voted by phone to decide on how the show would unfold).

"Kamen Rider Ryuki was the third entry in the Heisei Rider series, which ran for a year starting in February 2002. It's a shocking show where 13 Kamen Riders are pitted against one another in a Rider Battle, fighting by using the power of monsters called "Mirror Monsters," and its tagline being, "Those who don't fight won't survive!" Its "death game" style, in which only the last one standing can make their wish come true, caused it to gain alot of attention, making it a highly successful and legendary show. Minato's superior, Shirakura, who was present at the planning meeting, was also the Chief Producer of Ryuki. In planning the card Rider, Minato was handed materials by Shirakura that served as a template during Ryuki's proposal."

Minato: When I read it, a section with a discussion of how to incorporate card battles into a Rider production caught my eye. For example, in the case of "Pokemon," Pikachu plushies and figures are popular, but merch that features the main trainer Satoshi isn't as popular. In the case of Kamen Rider, the Riders are the main characters, so it's the Riders that you want to portray in an appealing way. If he were to summon Dragreder (a Mirror Monster) and have Dragreder fight for him, the Rider wouldn't be as appealing. If the Rider himself doesn't fight, he'd just exist to summon Dragreder. That being the case, the Rider summons a Mirror Monster in order to borrow their power. They can use sheer strength to unleash a special attack from the weapons they hold in their hands, or perform kicks themselves. In short, it's structured in such a way that the Riders themselves become the main part of the battle. The Mirror Monsters don't speak, and are depicted as enemy monsters, but there's a reason for this. Within the materials, there was something written like, "We want children to like the Kamen Rider, not Dragreder."

"There hadn't been a Rider production with cards as the main item since Decade in 2009. Furthermore, there was no concept of "linked items" at the time, and cards for multiple transformations and cards for form changes weren't developed in a very particular way. The cards used by the Riders were included "one at a time" with the toys (although there were 10 included in the main transformation belt), and weren't designed with the assumption that people would collect a complete set. Some of them were commercialized in the Data Carddass game "Kamen Rider Battle Ganbaride" (trading card arcade game), but the difficulty of obtaining them was high because the cards were ejected one at a time, causing collectors to cry. More than 10 years have already passed since Decade. It can be said that the development of cards unique to the Reiwa era would inevitably happen."

Minato: Bandai wanted to sell the cards as if they were part of a trading card game (in packs), rather than in a way where the contents of the cards are known. In other words, it was designed so that you wouldn't know what cards were inside. Selling them like that, you're bound to get duplicate cards, no? We had to think of ways to use those duplicate cards, so we first thought of a way to fight in a deck building style. As an example, I had to create a situation in the drama where you could put multiple copies of the same card in a deck. Then, I wondered about energy cards. For instance, there's always an energy card in a pack, and you have to consume three energy cards to get a powerful attack. I thought it'd be difficult to sell a large number of cards without doing something like that. The act of building a deck may seem abit difficult, but I thought it'd be better to have a gimmick like that, since it could broaden the age range of the audience.

"Younger children would enjoy the flashy card battles, while the older ones would also enjoy “tactics at its finest” when combining decks. It's an ambitious concept that would certainly captivate not only young children and elementary school students, but also the older generation."

Minato: At first, we thought of dividing the cards into multiple categories, including transformation cards, attack cards, special skill cards, monster cards, and so on. I tried to explain that things like skill cards can be used in the development of the show's story or battles, and that each card has value because interesting things could happen when they're combined, but it was hard for people to understand.

"The design team was led by Kita Tojun of PLEX. He's a key Designer who's worked on the Kamen Rider series since "Build" (2017), as well as "Mashin Sentai Kiramager" (2020), and as Chief Designer on "Ultraman Blazar" (2023)."

Kita: Among the countless ideas, there was one to combine 3 cards. The idea was to create a deck with three types of cards, that being, "Material + Shape + Movement," and then perform a move. Being more specific, it'd be something like, "Iron + Triangle + Rotation = Drill." In theory, it's easy to understand, but it'd be difficult for a child. Then there were talks of, "How about a simple "drill" or "bike" card, and then combining the two to make a "Drill Bike"?" From here, we felt that it'd be alittle sad to just use the word "drill," so we decided to turn the drill and bike into a character. In "Kamen Rider OOO" there were the mechs called "Candroids" that would help out, and I thought it'd be a good idea to make it a character with that kind of vibe. Riders are known for their compound eyes, so we came up with the idea of giving every character "bug like eyes."

Minato: When I saw the illustrations of the drill and bike with compound eyes, I thought that what was depicted on those cards looked like small animals. And the fact that all of them are alive……it made me think that they were like Pokemon (laughs). In that sense, the illustrations on the cards were all monsters…… it started to seem like a good idea with the ways things turned out.

"This idea became the prototype for the "Chemies," but at this point, he said they hadn't reached a definitive decision. It was like wandering in a long tunnel with no end in sight. The steam locomotive that would lead them to the exit hadn't arrived yet. The planning team's struggles continued as they hoped for a breakthrough in ideas……"

-Transform with alchemy by shaking the cards-

"In addition to the cards and structure of the transformation belt, meetings were underway in regards to the concept of the main Rider. This was because the concept of the Riders and items were linked to the worldview of the entire show."

Minato: Shirakura would constantly ask me, "What kind of program will people watch each week?" A Kamen Rider engaging in card battles wouldn't leave much of an impact. That's because there's already been so many. If you were to say an "Office President Rider," the audience's imaginations would run wild. A novelist Rider, a devil Rider……your imagination starts to overflow, doesn't it? That's where the word "magic" was brought up. If you were to give some meaning to the cards, then in some way or another, the magical elements would fit. Magical cards are easy to visualize, aren't they? For argument's sake, if you have materials "A" and "B" and then combine them, you can create something new. This is something that came up at a meeting with Tsukada. However, it didn't feel right that there was no logic behind the magic. With that being the situation I chose "alchemy," as it felt like there were more rules.

"So that's why the concept was an "Alchemist Rider." With the word "alchemy" being agreed upon, various elements started to connect to one another."

Minato: I remembered that something called a homunculus existed in alchemy. Then, I wondered if the compound eyed monsters depicted on the card illustrations could be homunculi. I thought it (artificial life forms) would be compatible with alchemy. From here, when responding to Shirakura's question, "What's so entertaining about this program?" my answer was, "Alchemy." Despite that, Shirakura would say, "Alchemy can't be a theme." He also said the words, "It's fine to use alchemy as a gimmick, but use something else as the theme." Trying to find the theme……I was at my limit, and yet, I remembered the conversation about how the illustrations on the cards were like Pokemon. This is where I finally landed on the word "collect."

"The cards depict monsters, and the idea was to create a story about collecting those monsters. At the same time, the word "alchemy" helped speed up the development of the transformation belt."

Kita: We talked about how to present the act of "mixing" multiple cards as a gimmick for the belt. One example, put three monster cards in the case and shake them. It'd be like a drink shaker. What we had in mind was when you pour them into a flask shaped belt, you'd transform through the power of the three monsters fusing.

"A wide variety of opinions were exchanged, among them, the idea of a transformation gimmick, in which the face of the Rider is completed by matching the patterns on the cards, was also conceived."

Kita: However, it was difficult from a design standpoint (making a flask shaped belt). Flasks have a protruding tip, so it'd be hard to fuse the square shaped cards with that design. Because of that, we decided to only keep the gimmick of shaking multiple cards and to make both the belt and the card holder in a square shape.

"A majority of people also said that the transformation action was lacking in excitement."

Kita: They said that simply shaking the card case and putting it in the buckle was weak as a transformation action. For the Build Driver (Build's transformation belt), there were the items called Full Bottles, but at the time, you had to shake the Full Bottles, put them in the belt, and then perform an additional action (turning the handle). It was pointed out that there was no action to that effect this time.

"At the same time, the number of cards were discussed, and it was decided that the total amount would be as large as 100 types."

Minato: That meant that there'd be 100 different linked items this time. I was pretty nervous because there were so many (laughs), but I decided to go along with it because it'd be a new perspective for me, and also because as cards, it might be worth collecting them.

"If three cards make one form, then you need more than 30 different forms, and if two cards make one form, then you need 50 different forms."

Kita: With that many forms, you'll want to swap cards from one to the next and play around with them. Some people voiced how it might be alittle hard to play with, and when we thought about it, the process of removing the holder from the belt, changing the cards, and putting it back on the belt again wasn't a good idea. So we talked about it with, "Instead of increasing the number of actions, wouldn't it be better to reduce them?" In the end, the card case was removed, and we decided to go in a simpler direction.

Terakawa: It took alot of trial and error, but if you want them to play with the intuition that you pair up the cards with the belt, just insert two cards into the belt and combine them together. I thought that was the simplest way to go. There's minimal belt action, since all you do is push and pull the buckle, but being that there'd be 50, possibly more, different forms, we decided that it'd be better to keep the actions as simple as possible. Each form also makes a distinctive sound effect. In addition, it can identify all 100 monster names and says them audibly, so just as a toy, we thought it'd be pretty fun.

"And so, with its colorful, neon like lights emanating, the transformation belt was completed. When two cards are inserted and the lever is pulled, the Rider's face appears. A truly mysterious gimmick was born."

-A Rider's failed transformation?!-

"Let's bring the conversation back to the time when the transformation system was being devised. At the beginning of the project, the idea was to just "insert a card pack directly into the buckle and transform!"

Minato: This was an idea from the design team. The concept was to make the packs structured like a storage box, where you could open and close them repeatedly, and then to "take out the real pack of cards inside and use them to transform!" The concept was to make even the act of opening a pack of cards part of the fun. This is where the drama comes in, as the question of "how do you deal with random cards?" came to mind. Opening a pack would be like a battle, where it's like, "So these are the five cards I got this time. Alright, how should I use them?" Then I was thinking that depending on the specs of the cards, it might be a less powerful form that it transforms into. That's the direction I had in mind for the drama.

"The main character fights by randomly transforming into different forms, taking advantage of the unique properties of his cards, which makes it impossible to know what will appear. Imagining a Rider surviving battles through wisdom and courage really gets your heart racing, don't you think? This led to the concept of a Rider who, depending on the cards he held, could transform into a "grotesque," non human form."

Minato: I imagined the main character as a young man who tries without giving up, even if he makes mistake after mistake. So I thought, "Why not visualize this attitude through his transformation?" Alchemy has a history of failures, so you could assume that the concept reflects that. In response to Shirakura's "what makes this program so entertaining to watch every week?" question, I thought, "what about a program that entertains the audience with its failed transformations?" Using various cards, trying again and again until finally achieving success, it made me think, "Isn't that kind of method abit like alchemy?"

"A failed transformation form that visualizes the act of repeated trial and error. The concept of capturing the form change from a different angle makes the new generation's sense of style shine through. However……"

Minato: When I tried to write the script using this format, it took way too long to reach victory. The sequence of a successful transformation from a failed one simply took too much time. Because of that, instead of repeating failed transformations, many people voiced their opinion that it'd be better to focus more on monster collecting.

"Thinking from a child's point of view, wouldn't it be more fun to have 10 successful transformation forms than to have 10 failed ones? After the planning team's feedback, it seemed like the failed transformation forms would be scrapped, and yet……"

Minato: There's a novel called "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka, and in it, the main character turns into a "poisonous bug." I felt that the failed transformation form had a similar kind of impact. On the other hand, one of the design proposals had a strange form based on the concept of a non human "steam locomotive grasshopper,” which I thought was kind of interesting. I also thought of the main character as a person who would be guided towards "C" in his search for answers, rather than choosing between "A" or "B," so I felt that a bizarre form would fit well with him.

"Both Yamabe Koichi and Kaneko Shinichi of Ishimori Productions are responsible for world building and repair within the Kamen Rider series. So far, they've been behind the scene figures that have caused many Rider productions to succeed."

Yamabe: It's alchemy, so failures can happen. You may end up with a form that's different from what you wanted, or, on the other hand, you could get a tremendous amount of power specifically for combat. A rough and wild form that causes him to abandon his human form. I think it's because we weren't concerned with the human form, that we could express that kind of excessive power. When I was a child, I used to enjoy thinking and fantasizing about things like, "What would happen if "A" and "B" combined?" So, even though we couldn't show all the forms, I thought it might be a good idea to set the rules as they are, and to let people imagine what it would look like if they put "this one" and "that one" together.

Kaneko: We thought that by removing the human form, the transformations could become more unexpected. I wondered if we could slightly deviate from the parts that the viewers would be expecting. We just needed to decide on the combinations, then we could consider using props instead of suits or CG to depict them. The idea was to keep viewers from getting bored and to give the program a sense of variety.

Minato: Although it was a good idea to sell this series with the fact that there are nearly 50 different forms (through the combination of 100 cards), we didn't have the time to depict those 50 forms (within the drama), and it would've taken a large budget to produce that many suits. So I thought, "Why not use the forms I was considering as failed transformation forms?"

"A strange creature that looks like a fusion between a grasshopper and a steam locomotive…These forms eventually came to be known as "Wild Mode." The naming embodies the "roughness of becoming wild." When the design is humanoid, there are limits to how the action can be depicted. By doing as they pleased with how they designed its appearance, it became possible to break away from those limits. This is how the new Kamen Rider of 2023 acquired its unique identity."

-A young Rider who crushes the old-

"The main character in 2023s Kamen Rider was a high school student. Why did you choose an overly straightforward youth, someone who was more than a boy but not quite a young man, to play the leading role?"

Minato: The opening of the drama is that the main character opens a secret door and finds himself in the world of alchemy, but at its roots, the story has an urban, legendary like worldview. There's a mysterious organization, similar to that of the Illuminati or Freemasons, that have already taken control of the world. The Alchemys Union gives off an image similar to a "dark government." Because of all this, you don't know the full picture. During a planning meeting, we asked ourselves who the Rider would fight against. The word "gerontocracy" came up. Usually, Shirakura and Tsukada are polar opposites, but on this one occasion, they both found it amusing (laughs). Because of their reaction, I thought it'd be interesting to have a story about a group of young people crushing leaders who hate change and only talk about things based on their own past achievements. However, I thought that "crushing the old" was too negative of a theme, but then the word "Gotcha" came up at a naming meeting. It's not a made up word, as it means "to obtain" in English. "To obtain" means to encounter something new that you don't have, in other words, that's what I believe the old have already stopped doing. The only thing the young can do to surpass the old is to "Gotcha." That was one of the reasons why I made the main character and his friends students.

"What the new Kamen Rider needed was "youth to fight off the old." The fact that the main Rider repeatedly changes into 50 different forms can be seen as a symbol of his youth."

Yamabe: The main character is a young and naive high school student. He's an amateur at alchemy, so he's not too specific about things, and he's not afraid to try out different things. I feel that the kind of "irresponsibility of youth" he possesses is reflected in the many form changes he makes.

"The design of the main Rider was done alongside his characterization."

Minato: Our initial plan was to use three or more cards. Since W and Build transformed by combining two elements together, we thought about whether we could create a gimmick that increased the number of cards so that there'd be no overlapping. We tried a variety of things, but considering the structure of the belt, the only way to read the barcodes printed on the cards was to scan them one at a time. After taking into account the transformation action and various other circumstances, in the end, we decided to proceed with just two cards.

"W's design is divided into two parts down the center, while Build combines two elements in a spiral shape. What would the next Rider look like?"

Kita: At first, I imagined him in a lightweight suit, as I thought it'd be a nice change from tradition. The style would be similar to "Riderman" and "Ride Kamens," where their faces are visible and armor is kept to a minimum. With this as the base, the direction was to strengthen him through the use of the cards. I tried to draw lines that made the most of the flat surface of a card, and to also add a flask motif to give off the image of alchemy, but I couldn't decide on the direction to take. It was pretty difficult.

Minato: There were tons of strange designs like that. However, since he's a card Rider, and since "people cards" were something that only Decade did, I wondered if there was a different direction to go in. We asked for an alchemy motif, but we couldn't come up with any words that would give him any hints for the design. During this, "plating" became the one thing we attached ourselves to. Alchemy is the secret art of manufacturing precious metals (like gold and silver) from base metals (like iron, lead and copper), so it gives off the image of something shiny. However, that was also just about the subject matter, not the actual design…..In the end, we decided that instead of combining the visuals of "A + B = AB," we would create a completely different form, that being "C." We wanted to proceed with a completely mixed design, a form where two elements were fused together through alchemy.

"Soon after, the motifs for the two cards were decided to be a grasshopper and steam locomotive."

Minato: A grasshopper wasn't exactly what I wanted. Or rather, there's a grasshopper (GodHopper) in King-Ohger, which I was apart of until just before this, so I was wondering……if this would be alright? (laughs). In the end, I thought that it wasn't a hero motif (in King-Ohger), and that this is Kamen Rider, so there was no issue.

"Grasshoppers are a well known motif going back to the first Kamen Rider, and it fits well with the bounciness of the main character's youth. The steam locomotive on the other hand was a suggestion by Minato."

Minato: When I met my nephew during New Years, he had a toy train. It made me think that children still love trains. I also watched the anime "Goldran" when I was a child, which had a steam locomotive transforming into a robot, and so I thought that a steam locomotive might end up being good. So, I went to a mass retailer near the office and bought a steam locomotive toy, brought it to a planning meeting, and presented it, saying, "Steam locomotives are pretty cool, huh?" (laughs). Grasshoppers and steam locomotives are opposites, one being biological and the other mechanical, but I had the idea of combining them together with the alchemy image in mind, so I thought they'd be a good match. "Jump and Power," that being the jumping power of a grasshopper and the charging power of a steam locomotive, it fit the image of a Rider's kick, so we decided to go ahead with this.

"The color of the armor that covers the new Rider entirely is "blue"…The color evokes a clear blue sky, and at the same time, evokes a sense of youthfulness. The blue shine is further enhanced by the dazzling plating. The motif is a grasshopper and steam locomotive. Its stylish silhouette is bold, it combines a grasshopper, which has been used frequently since Kamen Rider 1, with a steam locomotive, which is the first time it's been used as a main Rider's motif. The new hero would rise up, and his name was "Kamen Rider Gotchard"! The broadcast began on September 3, 2023. In the midst of this era's chaos, the dazzling blue hero jumps forward with ease!"

Gotcha Youth Alchemy Journal Gotcha 2: The Combination of Isolation and Gorgeous

-Alchemy of a local factory-

"Standing in the main character's way is Kurogane Spanner, a cool, super A class rank alchemist. He's a rival character who calls himself "Valvarad," and who wears a strengthened suit (alchemist armor) which he created himself for use against Malgams."

Minato: At the beginning of planning, among some of our options was the idea of "Agito 2." I brought it up partially because I like Agito (laughs), but personally, I thought it was a pretty good idea. I had no intention of it being a true part 2, rather, I wanted to create a show that would mirror its structure. This is because as I look back on the most recent productions, it feels like there are way too many Kamen Riders. Because of that, I wanted to bring it back down to three, just like in Agito. Furthermore, each of them comes from a different background, which is why each of them use distinctly different transformation belts. In addition, the structure is set up so that those three meet in the same place. The main character is pure and can't remember anything, the secondary is someone who's inherited some sort of knowledge from the past, and the tertiary is an outsider. I was wondering if it'd be possible to depict that kind of structure, where the three of them aren't very close with each other. I wanted to reject the traditional, rule based world. The secondary is Rinne, while the tertiary is Spanner. The structure isn't exactly the same, and there are some parts where multiple elements are mixed together, but I used that as a basis for the structure of the character arrangement.

"For 120 long years, no one has been able to attain that lost technology - alchemy for a Kamen Rider. In order to get as close as possible to this power, Spanner conducted his own research and developed "Valvarad's armor" as a system different from that of a Riders."

Minato: There were requests for more allies on the hero side to join the main Rider, but I had decided from the start to go with just Gotchard during the very beginning. Gotchard's diverse form changes were his selling point, so I wanted to focus on that first. I had decided from the beginning that we would have three Riders, but that there'd still only be one by the end of the year. That's when I decided to come up with a rival hero, and so a non Rider hero was born.

"Spanner dons his Valvarad "armor" not by shouting "Henshin!," but "Tekko!" instead. While Riders bodies are strengthened through transformation, Valvarad's an unorthodox warrior who fights with armor simply worn over his body."

Kaneko: Valvarad dons his armor using only one card. Only Kamen Riders can transform using two cards. This was a way to differentiate him from the others and to explain that this was the alchemy of this world.

"An outsider with a different background from the Kamen Rider. He could be considered the tertiary in the Agito inspired character arrangement that Minato originally had in mind."

Minato: He may be an alchemist warrior, but he's still an imperfect being, so we decided to make the rival rust. This is in contrast to the plated and sparkling Gotchard. The toy team voiced how they wanted car cards to appear, so we created a visual of a car covered in oil and being repaired with tools. He's like a warrior born from the alchemy of a local factory, if you will.

"These so called transformation items were also well thought out ideas (in terms of steel items)."

Kita: There were many ideas, including one based on scissors and another on a helicopter styled weapon, but the tool idea was selected from among them.

"Given his setting as a non Rider hero, some interesting ideas were exchanged on transformation and form changes."

Kita: I thought it'd be funny if he put the end of the Valvarusher (the wrench part) around his head and transformed by tightening screws on his head. Both of his shoulders have parts that look like hex bolts, but during the design stage, I imagined that the Valvarusher would be used by him to remove these bolts, and then to attach additional parts to the shoulders. Instead of transforming, he'd be a hero who tunes up his armor like a mechanical engineer.

"Equipping the armor and weapons with his own hands. That's quite an original idea, don't you think?! As a result, the method of changing his appearance instantaneously was used in the footage, but we can't help but hope that this kind of production technique will one day become more popular."

-The conception of a Rider Taisen Universe?!-

"A high school alchemist Rider finds himself in a different dimension. There, he witnessed a gorgeous, golden warrior who used the cards of past Riders to defeat his enemies in every direction. His name is Kamen Rider Legend!"

Minato: The cards sold in packs had "Chemies" printed on them, but at first, customers were still unfamiliar with the monsters. One of the roles of the show was to make the monsters more appealing, but we weren't sure how popular the Chemies would turn out during the planning stages. On the other hand, the lineup also included cards with Legend Riders printed on them. We thought this would be one of the motivations for customers to buy cards during the very early stages of the show. The toy team still raised their concerns with, "How can we make the cards more appealing?"

Terakawa: Card items are also targeted at adults, and the Card Division's view was that cards of past Riders would be particularly popular with them. If that was the case, then I wanted to highlight the Legend cards more. We consulted with Ishimori Productions and Toei about what steps we could take to achieve this.

Yamabe: Items related to past Riders, or "Legend merch" as they're called, have quite a few fans. We had the option of not adding them in the show, but I also understood what the toy team was thinking. We agreed that it'd be fun to have a hero who uses the cards of past Riders, and that we might as well give it a try with this series. However, if this character were to appear in the main story, it would affect the worldview, so that was something we had to think about for abit.

Terakawa: For example, we thought about things like someone who makes cards, who also makes Chemy cards, and who also makes cards of past Riders. A variety of opinions were exchanged, such as, "How about making a character who's a card shop owner, or a handyman who deals with Chemy cards and explains what a Chemy is?"

"Legend cards were difficult to work with. If Gotchard uses the Legend cards, that would give him unlimited power, which weakens the purpose of using the other Chemy cards. On the other hand, if a completely new and distinct character were to use them……"

Minato: A hero who uses Legend cards is by all accounts the most powerful character in the show, so wouldn't having him around solve everything? I wondered how it would affect the show if things ended up going in that direction. So, I decided to make him a Rider from a different world than the one in the TV series, and thought about developing it as a spin off. In this way, I thought we could fulfill both our goals of bringing Legend cards into the story, and to keep a Legend card using hero outside of Gotchard's narrative world.

"The platform chosen was Youtube. As the name suggests, "Toei Tokusatsu Youtube Official" is an official video site for Toei's tokusatsu productions, and has distributed spin offs of TV series, such as "Kamen Rider Ghost: Legendary! Riders Souls!" (2016)."

Minato: If I depicted how he got the Legend Rider cards, I wouldn't be able to show his abilities in the limited time we had, so I decided to make him someone who had alot of cards right from the start. Initially, I was thinking of a setting where he was some incredible day trader. A successful businessman who's very rich. I even came up with a line like, "I'm a modern day alchemist" (laughs). However, I thought that was alittle too realistic for his occupation……so I changed his setting.

"Needless to say, the concept of "gorgeous" was born as a result of this process. But his appearance……?"

Kita: I had alot of ideas, such as looking like a businessman with a suit arrangement, or like a motorcycle riding police officer who cracks down on Riders from all over the world. Since Gotchard has a concept with arrows, I tried to draw a design with arrows all over his body, but in the end, a design based on the concept of "Rider No. 3 from Decade's world" was chosen.

"One way of describing his appearance would be……the Golden Decade!"

Minato: Gotchard aired on TV every week. A large number of toys were released. It's a production that finally took shape after months of working on the setting and designs. When you throw a new Rider with a completely different setting into the mix, it's only natural that he'd look inferior to Gotchard. That being the case, I thought it'd be better to just have him be a character like Decade.

"From here, they wanted him to borrow Decade's powers. One being his "visuals." The other being his "ability" to copy all past Riders."

Minato: The fact that he looks similar to Decade I thought could be cleared up by using the same logic as Twokaizer (laughs).

"Twokaizer is the additional fighter that appeared in "Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger" (2021), and his visuals are very similar to the Gokaigers (laughs). This isn't surprising. The reason for this is pretty simple, the character Flint, who went to the world of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, copied the appearance of the Gokaigers (laughs). However, the overall coloring and appearance of various parts aren't exactly the same as those on the Gokaigers. The plan was to use a similar approach."

Yamabe: A world where using Riders from other worlds as cards and using their abilities is an established technique. That's the world that Legend exists in. The resemblance in appearance is due out of respect for Decade. That's how I interpret it.

"The enemy that Legend fights against is a mysterious organization called "Hundred." Under their command is Kasshine, an enemy from Zi-O."

Yamabe: I've always thought that there's a world line between Decade and Zi-O, and that there are battles that take place in a different dimension from the Rider battles that we do every year. That's why we used the Aurora Curtain again and had a scene where Kasshine appears. Ishimori Productions wanted to unite the world views of Decade and Zi-O into one.

Kaneko: Legend also had the role of introducing Kamen Rider to the new generation who were unfamiliar with Riders, as well as to people overseas who had never seen a Rider broadcast before. It'd be difficult to ask the new generation of fans to watch all past Rider productions during that time, so we picked out and introduced only the most characteristic and interesting parts of every past Rider. This was the role that had been entrusted to this character.

"Even though the grand plan was unexpectedly surprising, the character of Kaguya-sama is amazing in that he seems to be able to handle his role without any difficulty. Although, Legend would eventually interfere with the world of Gotchard……"

-Cards and Riders, a deceptive duet-

"The very beginning of the program depicts a lively battle between Houtaro and his friends to capture Chemies. It was an unusual journey, going from west to east in pursuit of Chemies."

Minato: The concept of this production was a "story of collecting Chemies." There are friends and rivals, but it's not a battle, what's depicted is a "race" to catch the Chemies. This is because initially, I was going to use a basic storyline pattern……in which human criminals and a Chemy combine to become a Malgam. This is imagery seen in the story of episode 2. A hero who saves helpless Chemies from being trapped by evil people is a new concept, don't you think? However, that'd mean the very first episode wouldn't unravel properly. I thought it'd be fine to go without an enemy organization, but TV Asahi's Producer Inoue Chihiro-san advised me that it'd be better to have an enemy. And so, the "Three Dark Sisters" were born.

"If you ask me, the flow of Houtaro receiving the belt from Kudo Fuga in the first episode wouldn't have been possible without the Three Dark Sisters. The unexpected circumstances of their creation are surprising, but the Three Dark Sisters studied the Chemy cards and succeeded in developing the DreaDriver. It's an evil device that transforms a person into the form of a demon by consuming Repli Chemy cards."

Yamabe: The DreaDriver is a "sacrificial belt." It's a belt that disposes of the Chemy cards. If an enemy that used it were to appear, the Chemy loving main character would no doubt hate them immensely. At the time of planning, the details of the story hadn't been decided yet, so we introduced it with that intention in mind.

Kaneko: At the time of planning, we were thinking of a development in which Chemy cards would be taken by the enemy and then recovered. However, as the project progressed, it was decided that there'd be only one of each Chemy card, so we needed to do something else. Considering the importance that Houtaro places on his Chemy cards, he wouldn't simply hand them over to the enemy. That's when we came up with the idea of "Repli Chemy cards." Things would progress from the enemy feeling threatened by Gotchard, to them creating a card of their own and transforming.

"With a thunderous roar, a human who puts on the DreaDriver transforms into Kamen Rider Dread. The one manipulated by Atropos and forced to transform was……Sabimaru."

Kaneko: We wanted to create an evil Rider, one who would completely change the cheerful mood, but we had a hard time deciding who would transform. At first, we were thinking of the three tiered system, with Clotho using Type One, Lachesis using Type Two, and Atropos using Type Three. We wanted to make it seem like the opponent who used Chemies to create Malgams would then transform into a Rider and stand in the way as powerful enemies, but as of episode 11, I felt that the Three Dark Sisters just hadn't developed as characters yet. Even when they transformed, it was lacking in impact……

Minato: For example, I thought about having Clotho transform and then leave the show, but Screenwriter Hasegawa-san didn't want Clotho to make her exit just yet. Therefore, we decided that it'd be best to leave Dread as a sort of puppet like existence for the time being. With all that being the case, who would do the most damage to Houtaro? From this perspective, I chose Sabimaru as the one to transform. The reason was that up to that point, Houtaro's main motivation for taking action was the Chemies, he wasn't a Kamen Rider who protected humans. However, when his senior and important friend Sabimaru is taken away from him, he has a change in attitude to save both Chemies and humans.

Kaneko: I think we were able to depict Houtaro's consideration for human life and his determination to fight. However, to begin with, Sabimaru's character isn't suited for that kind of role. That's why Dread didn't feel like a formidable opponent. It didn't look like a threat was approaching. Instead, the feeling of pity for Sabimaru was what came out more strongly, which was quite different from what we were aiming for.

Minato: Personally, I didn't want to call Dread a "Kamen Rider." In this world, Kamen Riders are rare individuals who transform by combining two Chemy cards. The Repli Chemy cards are fakes, and Type Zero isn't a Rider, as you transform with just one card. Therefore, we made it possible for anyone to transform, although what they become is quite different from a Kamen Rider. We decided that we'd have Atropos be the one saying, "I'm Kamen Rider Dread."

"Dread would eventually mutate its forms one by one, from Type One to Three, and even altering the person that transforms, causing torment to Houtaro and his friends."

-Power up with the Legendary Chemies-

"Ride Chemy cards are sealed with Chemies, artificial life forms created by alchemy. Each card is assigned a 10 level number based on their attribute, from "level 1" to "level 10." A Level 10 is the strongest Chemy in each attribute. They're special beings with extraordinary power."

Minato: Simply put, the Level 10's are "Legendary Pokemon" (laughs). They're absurdly strong Chemies, so it's difficult to catch them. Houtaro, as well as Gotchard, become stronger when the Level 10s approve of him. I was careful when depicting this sequence, as I didn't want to portray him as becoming stronger just because he acquired a strong asset. So, the process I followed was that as a result of becoming stronger mentally, he gained new powers. I intended on sticking to this concept throughout the show.

"Gotchard's system was to use two Chemy cards to transform, but there was a rule that the sum of the numbers of the two cards that were paired had to equal 10. Like how Hopper1 is a Level 1 and Steamliner is a Level 9. So, 1+9=10, and there can be a transformation. Other forms basically followed this rule, but what about Level 10 cards?"

Terakawa: The basic concept was that you were allowed to power up with three cards. So by adding a Level 10 card to Steamhopper (which requires two cards), you can create a new form.

"There are no cards that can be paired with a Level 10, so instead, the idea was to "add on" to a standard form to increase its power."

Kita: In the beginning, we were thinking of removing the card holder like part from the new weapon and setting it on the belt, but the card holder was small in size. Adding this to the Gotchard Driver didn't change the appearance of the belt much. So, we decided to change our direction of transforming the weapon itself into an additional buckle.

"Transforming with a Level 10 Chemy required a new weapon (Exgotchalibur), which could change shape into a buckle. The main point was that the overall appearance of the belt could be changed by adding additional parts to it. He was told, "you shouldn't control a Level 10," as they're the most challenging of Chemies, but Houtaro becomes friends with these Level 10s thanks to his kindness and battle spirit. His unconventional ideas and drive allowed him to easily overcome the old teachings passed down at the Alchemys Union, and gradually, he began to change the hearts of those around him!"

Gotcha Youth Alchemy Journal Gotcha 3: The Combination of Past and Future

-Daybreak Incident-

"One after another, people were turned to stone by the super giant Orochi Malgam. The crowded Christmas town was in chaos as everyone was turned to stone, including his best friends, allies, and rivals. Would the panicking Houtaro also become a victim?! At that moment, a daybreak colored shadow appeared with a dazzling light. It was another Gotchard!!"

Minato: The toy sale report for the first month of the show's broadcast became available, and while card sales were strong, Driver sales weren't, and the adult fan base seemed to be shrinking. That was just the info I was given. So, I decided that it might be a good idea to prepare some kind of major development for the story.

Yamabe: I had abit of a bad feeling about this……In the last episode of the year (episode 16), the development we planned was to have Houtaro power up into Fire Gotchard. Gotchard would be defeated for a moment, but then complete his powered up transformation at the very end, and then the story would continue in the next episode. That's the process we were thinking of, but after hearing about the toys, I had a feeling that the story would take a turn for the worse if we did that.

Minato: Geats, the previous series, was said to be very popular with adults, while on the opposite end, the response from young children wasn't so good. That's why we had talked about making a show that would attract more children this time, and that it would be aimed more towards preschool aged children. Rider is a long running series that has many adult fans, so I thought I had to try and strike a balance in order to reach that generation, but then I wasn't sure what to do.

"If the primary target was younger children, then it's possible that middle and high school students, as well as the older generation, may not judge it positively. And, what if you didn't get support from those vital young children?"

Yamabe: We understand that it's cool when the main character loses for a brief moment and then gets back up. However, given the situation we were currently going down, we thought it wouldn't be appealing to anyone, regardless of whether they were a child or an adult.

Kaneko: It was probably because of our own lack in ability, but in any case, we hadn't been able to convey the appeal of Gotchard. Tons of Chemy cards were released, tons of form changes appeared, Dread appeared, the Exgotchalibur appeared and turned him into Super Gotchard, and soon, there'd be Fire Gotchard. Shortly after that, Valvarad's power up was scheduled. Taking all that into account, it makes it impossible to create an interesting story, and even if new items were released, viewers wouldn't want to buy those toys, as there'd be no excitement in them. At any rate, we were in a standstill.

Minato: I don't remember much about the meeting because I felt completely drained, but it was decided right then and there that a new character would suddenly appear. "But who'll be transforming?," we couldn't come to a decision. There was a strong divide between choosing either Fuga or Houtaro's father, but I thought that'd be too predictable and simply not interesting enough. This could make it look as if Houtaro, the main character, was having his role downsized and that a new main character was appearing. That would be a betrayal to the viewers, so I absolutely wanted to avoid that. During all this, the words "the hero's future appearance" came out of Yamabe-san, and I was like, "That's it!"

Yamabe: A character who would be known as a "skilled Gotchard," who can handle all kinds of weapons, appears. He also fights brilliantly, using red Chemy cards that no one's ever seen before. So, unlike the Gotchard that Houtaro transforms into, this guy would be showing off his professional fighting skills. Within the show is a picture book, which refers to the story "Alchemist of Daybreak," so we decided to make the character associated with those words. And so, that's how Daybreak was born.

"Following this meeting, Minato immediately set out to negotiate with the toy team."

Minato: Episode 16 would be the last episode to air at the end of the year. Gotcharigniter toys were scheduled to be available in stores by the end of that week. So, at the time of planning, they were thinking of making Kamen Rider Valvarad appear during that episode. The Gotcharigniter was set up to be an item that allowed them to become Fire Gotchard or Kamen Rider Valvarad respectively. However, Gotchard became UFO-X in episode 13 and XRex in episode 14, and when episode 15 was being aired, Majade was making her debut in movie theaters. I couldn't set up such an absurd storyline where Valvarad would power up next time during episode 16. It'd be easy to force something like that out, but as a creator, I didn't want to do it. In Gotchard's story, I can't give power ups to people who haven't "Gotcha!" (obtained) something. So, I asked to let Fire Gotchard and Kamen Rider Valvarad make their appearance after the New Year. As a work around, I explained that we'd be attaching the Gotcharigniter to the new character, Daybreak.

"It's highly unusual for these kinds of series, which are based on linking the show and the toys, to delay the release of characters and items that are set to be sold during the holiday shopping season. This must've been an unexpected situation for the toy team."

Minato: I was expecting them to not agree so easily……but it was still pretty rough. After much discussion, I managed to get them to agree that before the sales launch of the Igniter, Daybreak would appear in episode 16 and use the Igniter to become Fire Gotchard Daybreak, and that only the visuals of the new Riders would be released. That's how we ended up releasing the new visuals at the end of the year for the coming year, unveiling Fire Gotchard and Kamen Rider Valvarad. We had already decided in advance that another artist would participate in the theme song (FLOW in addition to BACK-ON), so we decided to release it at the same time. I was so nervous, that I approached things with the feeling that a new show was set to start in January of the coming year.

"The act of explaining the situation to all concerned parties and getting people to understand the intentions of the planning team must've been an indescribable task behind the scenes. On the other hand, this decision broke away from the conventional mindset of the Rider series and "Gotcha" (obtained) something new, which would no doubt give a big boost to future stories!"

-Time Travel Fire-

"After some difficult negotiations, Daybreak's emergency entry was granted. The appearance of two characters were delayed because of this. Let's talk about one of them, we'll start with Fire Gotchard."

Minato: No one knew the reason behind why Houtaro liked the Chemies. Still, from the very beginning, I heard many opinions. The reason is simply that he just met a Chemy randomly and suddenly started saying, "Chemies are great!" To support this, I decided to have a setting where Houtaro meets Chemies in the past. Houtaro doesn't remember this because his memories were erased (by an alchemist), but the Chemies remember. There's still something like a fragment of "cherished memories" in Houtaro's heart. So, I tried to "combine" Houtaro's past and what leads him to becoming Fire Gotchard. I decided on the details later, but Houtaro travels into the past due to Daybreak. I wondered if I could create that sequence of events……where by remembering his childhood memories that had been erased, that would make him more aware than ever that he must protect people and Chemies, and that he must become a stronger person.

"Daybreak speaks with Houtaro. He says, "A power that gives hope to the future. Use this…" Houtaro refuses Daybreak's offer to accept the Gotcharigniter, and declares that he'll try to produce the power up item with his own hands. Daybreak tells him that in order to do so, he needs to travel into the past. Using the power of Timelord, Houtaro travels to the past, where he learns various revelations. As a child, Houtaro was friends with the Chemies, and despite being young, he was skilled in alchemy……Eventually, Houtaro obtains the "one and only treasure in this world" that his childhood self had made through alchemy, and returns to the present, where he succeeds in refining the Gotcharigniter. He obtains the power of Fire Gotchard!"

Kaneko: It's a speed form with a booster on his back, but if it's just about gaining speed, we've seen so many different patterns up until now that viewers are getting tired of seeing, so we decided to make it alittle different. Ultimately, we decided that when on standby, his body is fixed in place with chains, and when he gains speed, he can only move in a straight line. Combined with Director Tasaki's direction, I think the form turned out really unique and cool.

"Upon seeing Gotchard's new appearance, Daybreak mutters, "That form…..so you're headed into the new future, huh?"…"

Kaneko: Daybreak also uses the Gotcharigniter, but Houtaro's Fire Gotchard has a different appearance. That's where the timeline changed (Daybreak's timeline and the present split).

"Seeing Houtaro in a form different from his own despite using the same item, Daybreak feels relieved and returns to the future. This story……is unexpectedly connected to the Summer film!"

-The girl who was supposed to become Gotchard-

"Kamen Rider Majade made her first appearance in the Winter Film. She's the first female fighter in the history of the series to become the secondary Rider. As the daughter of a renowned alchemist, Kudo Rinne has always been bound by rules and lived by them. Her friends refer to her as "honor student" and "rule follower," and her enemy Atropos teased her by calling her "Serious-chan." A girl who's lived her whole life hiding her own will decides to "make her own rules," and grows from becoming a Kamen Rider!"

Minato: I think Rinne was originally supposed to become Gotchard. Since she's the daughter of Kudo Fuga, an important alchemist, she receives a gifted education to also become a renowned alchemist, and she herself has been making efforts with that intention in mind. And yet, her own alchemy doesn't work against Malgams. However, Gotchard (Houtaro) suddenly appears and defeats the Malgams. This is why she's always wanted to become a Kamen Rider, she didn't want to be beside the hero as the heroine, which is the usual tradition. She may look like a cute girl, but within her heart, she's frustrated and impatient with herself for not being able to transform into a Kamen Rider. And so, by Gotcha (obtaining) her resolve to fight, she was finally able to become her true self (a Kamen Rider).

"The New Year's episodes were a rapid fire of events, with each week bringing a series of dramatic developments. Daybreak's intrusion, Houtaro's past, the truth about Kudo Fuga, the power up into Fire Gotchard, Glion's resurrection, and Majade's appearance gave off the impression that there were multiple surprises packed into a single episode. Additionally, the Alchemy Academy was taken over by Glion, and even Minato, whom she admires, switches to Glion's side!"

Yamabe: We wanted to create a situation where Houtaro and his friends had to figure things out on their own. The situation came to a point where Houtaro could no longer be naive, and he had to finally face himself.

"Minato, who has surrendered to Glion's side, uses the DreaDriver to change his appearance and attack Houtaro and his friends. Houtaro and his friends, who called themselves the "Kitchen ICHINOSE Union," were united in their resolve, but more challenges were coming for them. That would be the rampage of their precious friend Spanner…….and the appearance of Wheel Malgam!"

-Digging deeper into the ridiculous jokes-

"Kurogane Spanner is a lone, super A class rank alchemist, who wears the Valvarad armor he developed with his own hands. He's also a man who was previously promised he'd become a Kamen Rider."

Minato: I decided from the beginning that there would be three Riders starting from the beginning of the New Year. My own concept was to do "Kuuga" during the first year, and then after the New Year, the show would become "Agito."

"Kamen Rider Kuuga (2000) was the first Heisei Rider production. It features only one Kamen Rider. The story is about a lone fighter named Kuuga who fights with the help of the police. The next production was Kamen Rider Agito. This is an interwoven drama about three Kamen Riders (Agito, G3, Gills). Minato had reworked the Rider shows that fascinated him as a boy and incorporated them into Gotchard."

Kaneko: The toy team had requested that Houtaro and Spanner share the Gotcharigniter.

"It had already been decided that Spanner would become a Kamen Rider using the Gotcharigniter."

Kaneko: With such a setup, Spanner would need to use the Gotchard Driver. However, the Gotchard Driver has meaning, as it's one of a kind, but I wondered what would happen if there were more of them. If they lent or borrowed it from each other, there would be situations where neither Houtaro nor Spanner could transform, and in that regard, I thought the idea of lending and borrowing was a bad idea. As a result, we changed it so that Valvarad's enhanced belt was a reference to the Gotcharigniter.

"And so, they decided to have Houtaro's Gotcharigniter be an attachment, but for Spanner to have it appear in the show as a completely new belt, known as the Valvaradriver."

Minato: The timing of Kamen Rider Valvarad's appearance was later than expected, but I approached Director Sugihara when it came to making his first appearance (episodes 20 and 21). At that time, the first thing the Director said to me was, "I understand that you want to depict his first transformation in a cool way, but Spanner as he is now is unappealing. I don't think the Rider transformation will come off as well as you think it should unless you do something about Spanner." The planning team was aware of this, so we decided to rethink what kind of person Spanner was when it came time for his first transformation.

"Edami Kyoka was created to better paint Spanner's background…. She's a brilliant female alchemist, who also develops transformation drivers."

Kaneko: Kyoka's the only person that Spanner can open up to and be honest with. She's the one who accepts Spanner with full affirmation. She's also a mentor who supports Spanner more than anyone else.

"Kyoka is Spanner's emotional support. However, their relationship of trust is shattered by the appearance of Angel Malgam. Spanner's parents show up in front of him for the first time in 10 years. Soon after, they're both killed by Glion! Seeing this scene before his eyes, Spanner recalls memories from 10 years ago. And that's when he realizes what happened…His parents had already been killed by Glion 10 years ago, and the people in front of him were only temporarily revived through Angel Malgam's power. At the same time, he learns that his memory of that tragedy had been erased by someone…He's shocked to discover that the one who had performed the memory erasing technique on him was Edami Kyoka, his mentor, mother figure, sister figure, and woman he admired. Spanner feels his existence crumble beneath his feet as he's overcome with despair. And then, Spanner forms a bond. With help from the Chemy Madwell, who was a "tool," he became Valvarad……!"

Minato: 10 years ago, Spanner was a 14 year old boy who went to live with the 24 year old Kyoka-san, and with that happening, he would definitely fall in love with her, don't you think? (laughs). But since she's like a family member to him, they continue to live together while he keeps his feelings bottled up. That's why he became such a cool character. With the appearance of Kyoka, that background becomes clearer. Because of his cool and stylish position, Spanner had been holding back his performance up until then, but the explosive power he had the moment he let it all out was amazing.

"In order to protect the heart of the young Spanner, Kyoka erased those haunting memories, taught him alchemy, and showed him affection as they lived together. This eventually became Kyoka's reason for living. She also taught Spanner how to play chess, as it's a game that requires you to always calmly think ahead without being swayed by your emotions. Spanner possesses dangerous powers that make him easily susceptible to the power of darkness, so she tried to protect him by putting him in "armor" known as the "aesthetics of battle." When Spanner realized her wishes and feelings, he recognized that he wasn't alone. At the same time, memories of the deep love he received from his parents come back to him, and Spanner gains new powers. His name is Kamen Rider Valvarad!"

Minato: Gotchard and Majade transform through traditional alchemy, but Valvarad's transformation is alittle different. He transforms using alchemy that's been applied to modern industrial technology, or other words, alchemy from a local factory, so his appearance is purposely different from the other two. When I think, "What's the alchemy in this show?," I have a pretty good idea of what it is, but his still feels alittle more industrial. I have the impression that Kyoka's alchemy is the latest alchemy (the alchemy related items in Kyoka's lab are different from those in Fuga's room). Valvarad has a reinforced suit, but it's set up so that when he becomes a Rider, his body physically changes. Still, the pointed part on the left side of his mask (the silver part) is the only part that's armor. The design of Kamen Rider Valvarad was completed by combining physical changes (due to legitimate alchemy) with the alchemy techniques of a local factory.

"Spanner became more appealing as a character, and grew into an indispensable and reliable presence in the story."

-The Chemies become transformation items-

"Gotchard evolves with different concepts, including a 3 card transformation (Super Gotchard), transforming with a special card that combines 5 cards (Star Gotchard), and a transformation with an additional buckle (Fire Gotchard). What style would the next power be?"

Minato: Since we had finally reached the point where we had all 100 Chemy cards available for sale, the subject of coming up with a battle style using those 100 cards came up.

Kita: As part of the design team, I was looking for a different approach. Along with the idea of transforming with all cards of the same attribute, there were many other ideas…….but the best response we got was from the concept of a power up transformation for Hopper1 and Steamliner. There'd be a plate buckle (in the shape of a card case) that featured Hopper1 and Steamliner's forms, and he'd transform by inserting new cards into it one by one. I was thinking of a three phase transformation system with slots on the left and right sides, with Hopper1 for the enhanced form, Steamliner for the second enhanced form, and both Hopper1 and Steamliner for the third enhanced form.

Terakawa: After consulting with the design team, we found that there'd be some difficulties with the mechanics. Because of this, instead of a card case, we'd insert a solid item into it, and the three phase transformation became a two phased one. As a toy, the concept was a figure, and it'd be a transformation item that looked like Hopper1 and Steamliner's powered up forms.

"At the time, the new lineup of card products to be released would include ones with the attributes "Cosmic" and "Ancient," so they decided to combine those elements into the power ups for Hopper1 and Steamliner."

Minato: The concept was a two phase transformation, using two different Chemy shaped items. It's standard to start with a "rampaging" form, then a form that overcomes it, but I wondered what we could do to avoid going in that direction. So, I went back to the idea of the single and double card transformations.

"First, Steamliner (in its powered up form) transforms by itself, then adds Hopper1 (also in its powered up form) for a combined transformation! Although its appearance is of a Chemy, the logic is the same as to whether one or two cards are used to transform."

Minato: It's just like Valvarad, he transforms by incorporating the power of one Chemy that resides inside a human. Valvarad uses items so he doesn't have to become Malgam. I wondered if we could think of it in the same way. We had a request for an ancient element in connection with the cards, so I came up with the concept of the "Ancient Forbidden Arts," which used a similar method as alchemy.

Yamabe: At the time of planning, I thought that an enemy boss would appear during this time, and that we could go on to explain about the origins of alchemy. This is why I was thinking that it wouldn't be out of place if there were ancient designs.

"The general concept of the transformation system had been decided upon, but discussions were also held on how the Rider using it would transform, and in particular, how they would differentiate between the two forms."

Minato: The concept was that the first form would be heavily based off an ancient Egyptian styled design and specialize in punching, while the second form would be light due to its heavy armor being removed and specialize in kicking. Still, it had been determined that Gotchard would finish things with a kick in any form, so specializing in kicks makes it difficult to differentiate from the other forms. So, we started to think about a different way of presenting it.

"The result was the ability to activate the power of two scanned Chemy cards as his own technique. Its name, "Platina Shoot Fever"! It has a variety of techniques, including striking attacks from its spiked arms (Saboneedle + Wrestler G), dodging enemy attacks while moving at high speed and firing needle bullets at high speed from its legs (Kaiserbee + Mechanichani), and electric attacks while binding enemies with reinforced webs (Raidenji + Catchula). The more you know about the Chemies, the more excited you become, and their diverse attack styles have captured the hearts of children and won't let go. A new form was born, one that shines with the concept of fighting alongside the Chemies."

Gotcha Youth Alchemy Journal Gotcha Final: The Combination of Hope and Challenge

-Arrow Transformation using the Kaiju Chemy!-

"What were known as the "strongest forms" became a staple during the last half of the show. What was the strongest form that the cheerful and positive high school student Gotcha (obtained)?"

Minato: Since we had Crosshopper and Tenliner, I thought it was possible that the power up item could be a Chemy. Still, I debated until the very last minute on whether or not I should make it the 101st Chemy. This was because at the time of planning, I hadn't decided on what the Summer film would be about yet……Personally, I wanted to save the 101st Chemy for the story in the Summer film. To use Pokemon movies as an example, I was thinking about a story in which the legendary Chemy appears in a similar fashion to "Mewtwo Strikes Back" or "Revelation Lugia." Originally, I was under the impression that the strongest form would likely appear about 40 episodes in. That's when I wondered if it would even be okay to collect all 101 of them. I thought that if it was done in that way, the show would practically be over, right? At the time, there were many parts of the setting that hadn't been decided on. "What should this program do after they're done collecting Chemies?," I hadn't fully figured that out yet. To begin with, 101 is the number that Shirakura advised me to prepare. The idea was to have an extra one in case of any problems, so that we could have more flexibility. That's why we left anything in relation to the 101st Chemy as a mystery. Was it really okay to use it as the final power up? This caused me alot of distress.

Kita: Minato-san wanted something different with the 101st Chemy, so we proceeded to work on the items and forms based on the concept of "all 100 Chemies included."

"He says that this direction was immediately "paused." The reason was that if all the Chemies combined, Gotchard's strongest form wouldn't be able to stand alongside Majade and Valvarad."

Kita: Would something other than the Chemies be better? I tried to design something with the image of a gadget based on "arrows," which had become synonymous with Gotchard, or a gadget that lets you put in all the cards you've collected and use the power of 100 cards, but they were all no good.

Minato: This was just around the time that I came up with the idea of a setting for Daybreak. I thought if I could make the Summer film into a Daybreak story, we could make it work. So, using that process, I decided to put the 101st one on TV. Although, the result was that the last two Chemies caught in the show were Pakuraptor and Ojilacanth (laughs).

"The decision was made to make the 101st Chemy a transformation item, and out of countless concepts, a Kaiju Chemy was chosen. It's appearance looks alot like Gotchard……"

Minato: Its design inherited elements of Gotchard, which reflects the setup that it was born from the Gotchard Driver. It also gives off a special feel when compared to the other Chemies. If it was raised as an egg inside the Gotchard Driver while watching Houtaro's actions, it'd be natural for it to have alot of trust in Houtaro, and it'd be easier to explain in many ways. So, I came up with the idea that Fuga had already placed the 101st inside the Gotchard Driver.

"The Kaiju Chemy is born from the egg thanks to Houtaro's ideals! Transformed by its power, Gotchard's strongest form is……arrows?!"

Kita: The words that came up in our discussions were along the lines of Houtaro's positivity and straightforwardness. So I drew the mask with arrows, Gotchard's symbol, meeting in the middle. Although I got the OK, I wasn't sure if it would actually work as a physical shape, so I decided to do a test by printing it out using a 3D printer.

Minato: I was surprised when I saw the 3D model of the mask. This was because I realized that such a mysterious design was actually possible to produce. I liked the design instantly because it seemed to be a direct expression of Houtaro's positive attitude.

Yamabe: Houtaro has experienced many things since becoming a Rider, so it was as if he had decided on his direction. That's why the arrow is so pronounced in the design. I love that face, because it gives the impression that a beautiful rainbow has formed at the end of the arrows.

Kaneko: The 101st Chemy contains some of the Philosopher's Stone, which explains why the strongest form is in fact the strongest, and I think we got it just right. There's backstory that the perfect form of alchemy is a "rainbow," and I thought the way this was expressed visually was a fantastic design.

"The strongest form, which received great support from the planning team, is called "Rainbow Gotchard"! The dynamic mask structure, which looks different from different angles, is the most energetic and explosive design in the history of Rider designs."

-The Daybreak Alchemist and the Secrets of the Picture Book-

"While it was a traditional Summer film, the decision to have the two Houtaros as the main characters was made very early on."

Minato: When we were in the process of asking DAIGO-san to voice Daybreak in the TV series, I knew that I wanted the next Summer film to focus on Daybreak. I wanted DAIGO-san to appear in the film and show his face. We had just finished filming the Winter film, but we got internal approval early on.

"The Winter film was "Gotchard & Geats." Apparently, deciding on the Summer film's cast before the New Year is unusually fast for a Sunday morning Rider."

Minato: Sometime after the New Year, I had a meeting with the Film Promotion Division and planning team. We were told that the box office revenue of the Winter film was almost the same as the previous film (Geats x Revice). However, looking closer at the details showed that the percentage of attendance for children's tickets had increased. With that being the case, we decided that the Summer film should be a fun, easy to understand movie that families can enjoy together. For the Winter film, we decided to promote the Chemies and put more focus on the Voice Actors. We tried to go in a direction that would appeal to Voice Actor fans who like anime, but it seemed like that wasn't enough, and TV Asahi wanted to supplement that with the guest cast. Based on all these things, we wanted to create an exciting tokusatsu hero action film. We didn't want to create a cluttered and complicated story, but rather, a single theme that would run through the entire film without stopping.

"The meeting also ordered that Gotchard and Daybreak appear in a film only form. In addition, there were even more requests……"

Minato: The Advertising Division asked us if we could bring in someone from the "Legendary cast" in order to appeal to the fan base that had continued to love Kamen Rider. It'd be something similar to the sequence in the Geats Winter film, where the Ryuki cast appeared. We agreed that if we could incorporate Decade, which was the basis for Kamen Rider Legend, into this project, it would be a good idea. That's how we decided on the appearance of Kadoya Tsukasa (Inoue Masahiro).

"The script was entrusted to Hasegawa Keiichi, who also worked on the TV series."

Minato: As for Hasegawa-san, he wanted to make a film that would make people cry. At the time, "Godzilla Minus One" was a huge hit. Hasegawa-san's analysis was that, "Japanese people who were forced to live in hardship after the war rose to their feet, and those kinds of dramas win the hearts of the audience." So I thought, "Let's also do a hero who rises from the ashes."

"The story follows Houtaro as he struggles in the Future World. The world has been taken over by Glion, and his precious friends are already dead. Unsurprisingly, Spanner and Minato are now under Glion's control. They're fake forms, masked with evil. A trap to mentally drain Houtaro……20 years later, the world has become a literal "living hell" for Houtaro. On Christmas Day, when Daybreak showed up to save him, Houtaro was supposed to have been defeated by Glion. To stop that tragedy, Daybreak had come from the future Even though he knew it was futile……."

Minato: I'd been thinking of connecting the "Alchemist of Daybreak" depicted in the picture book with Daybreak, but nothing concrete had been decided at the time of episodes 16 to 18. As I was working on the script for the film, it was Kaneko-san of Ishimori Productions who recommended, "It'd be better to connect it to the past lore, with Daybreak crossing over into the past to become the Alchemist of Daybreak at the end."

"Originally, the "Alchemist of Daybreak" depicted in the picture book is wearing a red hood. However, the picture book that appeared at the end of the film depicted "Shining Daybreak" defeating the Dark King……."

Minato: Strictly speaking, the illustrations of the picture book shouldn't have changed from the "Alchemist of Daybreak" to "Shining Daybreak" in the last part. If Future Houtaro was wearing a red hood, it would cause an unclear outline in the story……The reason why I did it that way is because if he goes back in time and "seals" the Dark King, it wouldn't feel like Daybreak had won. If the story unfolded that way, the history of Houtaro being defeated by Glion and suffering in despair would be repeated all over again. I wanted to put an end to that if possible. This was something that Hasegawa-san suggested. He said that unless I made it something like, "In the end, the Dark King was defeated, and they lived happily ever after," it'd be difficult to convey Daybreak's victory. If it came to that, the foreshadowing in the TV show of the picture book couldn't be resolved, but I thought people would understand that the story, which had been repeating itself, had entered a "new step," so we decided to just go with it.

"In the final scene, the Dark King, defeated by the two Houtaros, travels to a "past without Kamen Riders" to rule the world once more. Daybreak also follows him and travels back to the past. The film ends there……It's a very sharp and brilliant ending."

Minato: It was Hasegawa-san's wish that we didn't depict the battle between Daybreak and the Dark King in the past world. At the time, Matsuura asked Hasegawa-san a question. "It's fine as long as it's depicted that he goes back in time and becomes the Alchemist of Daybreak. But after that, would it be okay for Future Houtaro to return to the future and live with Atropos and Clotho and all the others in a world where the threat has disappeared?" Hasegawa-san said that it would be abit of a stretch to depict what happens after that. He said that it's a beautiful story because it ends with the picture book explaining Daybreak's victory by going back to the past. He said something along the lines of, "This film has many characters, but it's a story about two people, Houtaro and Rinne, so wouldn't it be a wonderful, happy ending if they went to the past together (even though Rinne had passed), defeated the enemy, and lived happily in that world?" I think the quality of the film was enhanced because of that decision. I'm extremely grateful to Hasegawa-san.

"This film is excellent in that it's the "final episode" of the story starring Future Houtaro, but what's even more remarkable is that this film is an important piece that ties the story of Gotchard together. Has there ever been a Kamen Rider film that's so completely linked to the TV series? "Kamen Rider Den-O: Ore, Tanjou!" (2007) was in a similar position, but it didn't leave such a deep impact on the overall story. Of course, there's a reason for this. The theory has always been that a film of a TV series should be considered "outside content." This is because it was believed that the content needed to be understandable to first time audience members who went to the theaters. However, in the age where the streaming environment has improved to the point where people can access old and new content as soon as they're interested, can this still be called a "theory" today? This truly "Gotcha" film attempts to break away from conventional thinking, and is also a "challenge" that presents a new form of Kamen Rider films in the age of distribution."

-Arrogant Gods and Homunculi Deception-

"As he works towards becoming a great alchemist, and to live in harmony with the Chemies, an enemy stands in Houtaro's way…was it the three Dark Kings? Or perhaps, Glion?"

Minato: At first, I thought of the Alchemys Union as the final boss. The reason why I didn't set up an enemy during the early stages of planning was because the enemy that the main character's were expected to fight were the higher ups of the organization. In a Rider's sence, it's "The Dark Society Gorgom." It's an evil that's skillfully infiltrated our society.

"The Dark Society Gorgom is an enemy organization that appears in Kamen Rider Black (1987). Their setup is that powerful political and business leaders and scientists were controlling the world of its members from behind the scenes."

Minato: The higher ups of the Alchemys Union have taken over the world from behind the scenes. That's why all they want is for the world to continue as it is. They don't want change. I had envisioned "the old" as the enemy and theme of the show, which is why I was thinking of such a structure. However, with the creation of the characters I called the Three Dark Sisters, the Alchemys Union was no longer the distinct enemy of the main characters. Instead, Glion and the Dark Kings were created. They were, as one would say, the founders of the Alchemys Union. In other words, they are the symbols of gerontocracy. They're like the ancestors of the old, desperate to preserve their own self interests.

Kaneko: Houtaro and the other youths are trying to move into the future through repeated trial and error. On the flip side, the Dark Kings don't want to think about the future, nor do they feel there's any need to. They're fine with the way things currently are. They believe that things will come to an end gracefully. That's why they're seeking "unending stillness." Glion was simply following those words. His "Golden Paradise" was just a simple way of saying that, but it may have been difficult for viewers to understand, in part due to our lack of explanation.

Yamabe: The Dark Kings were the ones that created Glion. They were originally human, so even though they said that as an analogy when they created Glion, with him being a homunculus, he was honestly trying to make it a realization.

"In other words, Glion, who was created by the Dark Kings, couldn't go beyond being their puppet, even though he saw the Dark Kings as his enemy."

Minato: Eventually, the younger generation who suffer from the burdens of the old won't be able to retort, and will just accept things as they are. As they grow older, they'll eventually find themselves in a similar position, becoming a burden on others, although it might be hard for them to notice.

"Glion's existence is also placed in this chain of events. Meanwhile, Glion's creators the three Dark Kings, or in other words, the ancestors of the old, also have a profound position."

Minato: Gigist likes to act like he "understands everything about humans." This is a metaphor for "thinking you know everything." Gaelijah says to "leave things to fate," which also means to "avoid your responsibilities." As Germain's "I love you" expression suggests, he thinks of himself as a "superior being" to humans. They all think that they're of a higher class compared to everyone else. Each and every one of them are "old."

"Although the Dark Kings expressions are pleasant and sound humble, they all have a hint of arrogance behind them."

Minato: The ones they must stand up to are those who have created the ruling structure of this world. By overlapping this with the Dark Kings, I wanted to depict a confrontation between youths and adults, between change and stagnation, and other issues like that throughout the story. However, the main focus isn't on battles, but on "Gotcha" (obtaining). I tried to keep that in mind as I worked on the story.

"A story of young confronting the old…….It's an unexpected theme, but from that perspective, the final battle between Glion and Houtaro can be seen as the culmination of all of this. Glion, who's turned the city and its people into gold, finally uses his golden technique on Houtaro, but for some reason, Houtaro can still move while in this golden form……"

Kaneko: Glion's gold making technique was actually just making things gold plated. It's simply a deception. The story goes that Glion can't make real gold. Glion is confronted by Houtaro with the truth. That his alchemy isn't perfect. Glion thought he was perfect. He had all the materials and knew how to do it. But when he tried, it was gold plated. He thought he had everything ready, but just about everything was missing.

"Come to think of it, Glion was always imperfect. Kamen Rider Eld appeared before Houtaro. Kamen Rider Dorado controlled the future world. Both were the transformed forms of two Glion's from different timelines, but the former could only produce fake gold plating, while the latter was merely a puppet for the Dark Kings. I guess that means the road to "El Dorado (Golden Paradise)" that Glion was looking for was just a fleeting illusion……"

-Houtaro's father and the adults who entrust-

"This production is also a story about young people breaking away from stereotypes and what's accepted to be common sense."

Yamabe: Alchemy has a history going back to ancient times, right? Its rules seem to be very strict, and we initially thought of a development where an amateur like Houtaro would come along and cause reforment with sound arguments like, "Isn't this what it's all about?" The fact that the people in the Alchemys Union shifted their blame and ran away from the situation was included as a way of portraying the old.

Kaneko: The Alchemys Union isn't an organization that gathers in a specific place and works on things collectively. They're scattered all over the world, each having their own profession and doing alchemy behind the scenes. They're what we'd call a "secret society." It's also because of that kind of set up that it's hard to see the full picture. They're the people at the top of the world's hierarchy, those who'll forever cling onto their status and reputation. In many ways, they're "people who have stopped growing up" and "people who undermine the youth." Those at the top don't take any responsibility, but they won't hesitate to say things like, "I don't know. You'll have to handle it on set" (bitter smile). They also don't take charge. They're positioned as people who seem to possess authority, but no one knows why they have it. Houtaro doesn't care about people like that. He doesn't pay attention to them, almost as if to say, "Huh, so there are people like that." Minato Sensei and Kyoka-san would have displeased looks on their faces as he resolved the situation at hand, but he would only wonder why they were making those faces. That's the kind of hero I was looking for in Houtaro.

"Houtaro's an easygoing high school student that can be found just about anywhere, but he's quite unusual for the main character of a hero production."

Minato: In the very beginning of the show, Spanner was working under Kyoka's directions, but initially, I hadn't made any decisions regarding who would become this character. There was even a time when I was thinking of making Glion the person giving instructions to Spanner. His superior's a bad guy, so Spanner would express hostility towards him. There'd be a development where he abandons his previous beliefs that he was on the side of the organization and becomes a Kamen Rider. I once thought, "What if Spanner's true identity was that he's a homunculus?" Learning such a fact would bother him like, "What has my life been up to this point?" But then again, a Chemy is a homunculus, isn't it? Since Houtaro's a Chemy loving character, it wouldn't shock him if Spanner were a homunculus. He'd be like, "I'm totally okay with that!" (laughs). He wouldn't mind. That's when I felt that it'd be better to go ahead with Spanner being human. That's how it happened.

"Houtaro's appeal lies in his generosity and tolerance caused by his carefree personality. It's strange how amazing it is that Houtaro's able to do something like that."

Minato: When the program first started, some people said they didn't understand why a young man named Houtaro wanted to pursue something called "Gotcha." What I was considering here was the presence of Houtaro's father. His father is an adventurer, and despite being an adult, he's a man who still travels the world in search of "Gotcha" (obtaining). That's why he never comes home (laughs). However, the son would grow up to be a boy who aspires to Gotcha just like his father. That's how I thought of it. Maybe I could've let Houtaro and his mother explain that alittle more.

Yamabe: Why did Houtaro go to the Ouroboros Realm to play as a child? It's not depicted, but I've always wondered if his father made a hole that led there. I think we could've tried to do a story where he's acquainted with Fuga……but we put it off because it would've been the start of yet another story. If we wanted to do it in a V-Cinext or through Youtube, we could, but to be honest, we just left things as they were.

"While the father isn't fully explored, his character as an adult seeking to Gotcha is pretty fresh in the context of this production."

Minato: The reason I didn't have the father appear, or rather, hesitated to include him, is because Gotchard is a show about fighting against the old. In other words, I didn't want to show the existence of adults who had "obtained." I wanted to depict all adults as old as much as I could. If the father who continued to Gotcha appeared, the theme of the program would be affected.

"Still, there are some reliable adults that appear throughout the show. There's Fuga, Kyoka, and Minato. Houtaro's mother (Ichinose Tamami) is also one of them."

Minato: This is because they're "adults who have entrusted themselves to the youth." They think that adults who decide to concede to the youth are good adults.

"Ichinose Tamami to Houtaro, Fuga to Rinne, and Kyoka to Spanner, each and every one of them is an "adult" who entrusts themselves to them. To entrust is to believe. This is why they're portrayed as good people for the youth."

Minato: The reason why Minato Sensei surrendered to Glion's forces and went to the enemy's side was because he felt that he "couldn't entrust" himself to Houtaro and the other youths. The incident 10 years ago made him make that decision. Minato chose the "safe side." He advised them to stay away from him because it was dangerous. There's an adult's logic to that. However, after everything that's happened, he got over that trauma and decided to trust Houtaro and the others, so he left the Alchemys Union and returned to the youths.

Yamabe: In that regard, Spanner was on the old's side at first. His elite mindset also contributed to him rejecting Houtaro, even though he's young. But, he eventually changed, trusted Houtaro and the others, and became his friend.

"This means that Future Houtaro, who appeared in the Summer film, was also considered old."

Yamabe: Having lost many friends and living in despair, Future Houtaro was looking for a place to die. Then, present day Houtaro appears and gives him angry encouragement. Seeing his younger self genuinely pushing forward strengthens his decision to fight together. He's determined to fight alongside him. He Gotcha (obtained) all over again.

"As Future Houtaro crosses over into the past, a new world line is created for present day Houtaro. Although the events took place in a different timeline, there's a world where his friends who should've died are still alive and well. This new world, which he had seized through his own decisions and actions……is what gave hope to Future Houtaro. Freed from the nightmare that happened 20 years prior, Future Houtaro forgives himself and was finally saved. The harm caused by the old isn't something that comes only from age or position. It's the refusal to accept new ideas, being bound by past experiences. It's about not taking a new step forward. Challenge is the key to the future, and only progress can be the light that leads us to what's beyond."

-Kamen Rider from a Business Perspective-

"Houtaro saves the world from Glion's plan, and even creates another Earth through alchemy for the Chemies to live on. The story ended with Houtaro showing us a glimpse of being a great alchemist……The days with Gotchard were now told……"I wanted to make a program that would convey the excitement I felt when I watched Agito during my first year of middle school." This was what Toei's Minato Yosuke, the Chief Producer responsible for the project, had said."

Minato: I feel that the Kamen Rider series, especially those produced during the Heisei era, have their own "strengths and weaknesses." The appeal of the series is that each year's unique worldview isn't connected, but on the other hand, I think the fact that the series ends after only one year reveals its character's weaknesses. At first I thought, "What is this?," but after five years of continuous production, the program "Paw Patrol" has become overwhelmingly popular among preschool aged children. I think one of the reasons is that it's been running for five years. If Gotchard continued for another five years, it could possibly surpass Paw Patrol in recognition. Because it's something that children can enjoy for a long time, their parents feel that it won't hurt to buy products related to the show for them. I can understand why parents would think it'd be a waste if they knew that another new program would start next year. I think times are changing in that way. I was also thinking about the question, "Should the character change every year?" When Heisei Rider started, it was probably nice to have a format where the characters changed every year, but I wonder if it's a good fit currently. Along with streaming services and Youtube becoming more normalized, the viewing environment is changing. I feel that our past successes are holding us back, or that we're not adapting to these changes. The strategy is to start a new program every September and have people buy a new transformation belt in time for Christmas. In an age where there's so much content available, is this really a good mindset to have? I've been thinking about that for alittle over a year.

"Bandai's Terakawa Ryo, who was involved in the development of the toys, weighs in on the importance of Kamen Rider's content."

Terakawa: When overlooking the toys, while the adult fans of Geats were excited, there was a point where the popularity among children stagnated. Currently, there are many products of the Kamen Rider characters that are aimed at adults. CSM and S.H.Figuarts are typical examples, but I think this business is only possible because the people who buy these products were exposed to these shows in their childhood and still love the characters. The Legend Chemy cards and Kamen Rider Legend were aimed at those adult fans. In order to increase the number of similar customers who'll continue to love Kamen Rider for a long time, I have a desire to help make the project more exciting for today's children. This production made me think more than ever about making shows and toys that children will love.

"Kamen Rider, a program aired on Sunday mornings, is an important "touch point" between today's children and the Kamen Rider IP. In the current age of streaming, the archive of Kamen Rider, including its past shows, is huge, but there are many rival shows. How to attract attention and increase popularity among them is a long term challenge for the future."

-Gotcha all around the World!-

"Although this production aimed to regain popularity among children, its style was too child oriented, which resulted in the alienation of the adult generation of fans. As discussed in Gotcha 3's "Daybreak Incident," the impact was so great, that they had to quickly introduce a new character. Yamabe Koichi of Ishimori Productions, who has overseen the setting of the Rider series for many years, opened his remarks with deep emotion."

Yamabe: This is well known among fans of the Showa era, but in the first "Kamen Rider" (1971), the lead actor Fujioka Hiroshi-san was injured during filming, which resulted in him being unable to perform. Normally, there would've been two choices. Either the show would end or another actor would take over the role, but the staff at that time came up with a new character, that being Kamen Rider No. 2. Amazingly, the program became even more popular. I believe that the Kamen Rider series was founded on the spirit of doing something in a pinch. Just like with Daybreak in this show, it gave me a strange sensation, like there was some kind of invisible force at work

Minato: This was my first time as Chief, but when making a program, there are times when you have to take risks. After all, everyone wants to be happy. That's why I think I learned that if you can make your "opponent" happy, you can win. Any proposal that makes the other person unhappy will only result in a "battle" and both sides "covered in blood." Even if my demands were met, I'd be unhappy too. I thought that in order to meet my own demands, I also need to be mindful of meeting the other's demands. If you think about it, it's the same thing that Shirakura's been doing up to now. "The show was a hit, don't you think?," and then it all works out peacefully. I'd have talks with Bandai, TV stations, and other relevant entities to explain my vision to them, saying, "I think this development will definitely be more interesting and will make the show more exciting, so I'll try to make it happen!" In someway or another, I managed to convince them, and I'm glad that it all worked out in the end. I'm grateful to all the staff members who came up with this type of arrangement, and to all the companies involved for accepting my plans.

"Kaneko Shinichi participated in the project as Ishimori Production's Literary Director. "It's become a lovable production," he said with a smile."

Kaneko: Many of them are young, including the three Producers Minato-san, Matsuura-san, and Harashima-san, as well as the Screenwriters. I think it was a year in which I learned alot about their new ways of thinking. For example, when you build a house, the theory is that you first lay down the foundation and then construct the exterior walls, right? Instead, it felt like we started with the roof and then raised up the pillars (laughs). And, it's really unstable, crap, we have to lay a foundation. So, we laid down a foundation, but it started to lean because we still didn't build any walls. I hope I conveyed that right (laughs). I've never done it that way before. But it was a really good experience. Should I have just said that the way it's put together was different…..? It may sound odd to say, but I think that nothing more may happen in the future. Including myself, there were parts that were too much and parts that we were unfamiliar with, so I think it's important to strike a good balance. I think this was a production that really left a strong impression on me. The pains of creating, and the joys of creating, things like that came in waves. And, it happened every episode (laughs). I've never experienced that before. For example, I had my own interpretation of what things Houtaro would say, and we talked about it during meetings, but then someone else would say, "Well, I'm sure someone Houtaro's age wouldn't think too much about that." I thought, "I see." When I was his age, I used to think about things deeply, or take it in a twisted way, but children today are different. I think Motojima-kun's character is one of them, but there were many things that made sense to me, things which were definitely typical of Houtaro. I found that really strange. Of course, there are differences among the younger generation, the way they approach things and the way they respond to things is different. I think that happened within Gotchard many times. It was a show that allowed me to experience things I had never experienced before, and I personally learned alot from it.

"PLEX's Kita Tojun, the design team leader for this production, said that the amount of designs had his eyes spinning."

Kita: This time, I designed many different types of Chemies, and there were 101 of them. Of course there were the designs, but the process of drawing each of them for the cards was also enormous. The Rider's mask was displayed on the back of the card, so the mask had to be designed at the same time. First of all, this was for 50 of them. We got through it with the help of Designers who weren't apart of the Rider team. In addition, I was also asked to design the illustrations and Chemies for the Legend Rider version of cards that were added to the collection. It was completed in part to having the company help put on the finishing touches. They then needed me to draw additional illustrations for the rare parallel cards……I was in a situation where I couldn't finish no matter how many drawings I did. It was really challenging. And it didn't end there, as I had to create full body designs for all the forms used in the app…..There were about 50 of those……I designed and illustrated so many Chemies, that I thought it would never end.

Terakawa: First off, I'd like to thank the design team at PLEX. This production allowed me to experience firsthand how a show progressed and developed. The process of bringing the "Chemies," who were at first mysterious illustrations, to life and gain popularity within the show was an exciting experience. Dozens, even hundreds of people do their very best to make Rider items, right? It was such a big project, that I was afraid to talk about it alone, and because of my inexperience, I spent alot of time wondering and worrying about it. The number of cards was quite large, and the management, as well as debugging work, was enormous, but everyone on the team worked hard together. Despite the difficulties we faced as creators, it was a memorable work that we all overcame together.

"For Chief Producer Minato, Gotchard wasn't only a show for the Japanese market, but for the international market as well."

Minato: Gotchard was designed to be an easy to understand and enjoyable show for children to watch every week. I made this show with the vision of making it understandable to children all over the world. This had something to do with the fact that the items are inexpensive cards that can be picked up by anyone and are linked to each other. I think that if a child gets even one Chemy card, it could be the beginning of their love for Kamen Rider. I hope that the number of people who watch Kamen Rider will grow on a global scale through the increase of experiences like that. I made Gotchard with that kind of spirit, as I wanted it to take on that kind of responsibility. So, I personally believe that the true assessment of Gotchard hasn't been made yet. Its outcome will be seen further ahead in the future. That's what I'm thinking. There's a show called "Voltes V Legacy" that was made in the Philippines, and it was made due to the passionate love for the original TV anime "Chodenji Machine Voltes V" (1977). The love of the fans brought the show back to life in the modern age. Learning about the Filipino Director's thoughts and feelings made me want to cry. That's why, let's say 20 years from now, if a foreigner said to me, "I loved Gotchard when I was younger," I might cry (laughs).

"The fact that the main character uses the English phrase "Gotcha!" was also done in anticipation of this kind of international expansion. I want you to imagine. Imagine that when children all over the world become adults, Gotchard items for adults will be on sale everywhere around the world, and they'll be playing with them. The future where children from all over the world will be shouting "Gotcha!" will be here soon enough."

-Gotchard Hymn-

Houtaro uses alchemy to create another Earth in order to move the Chemies there. Although the ending is absurd, it can be said that it's a typical characteristic of this show.

I won't say that it was a flawless show. It had its faults and shortcomings.

It had many weak points.

However, even after removing these complaints, there's still a sense of exhilaration that remains……That's what Gotchard definitely had. There are things that can only come from challenges. It was Gotchard that taught me that.

"Ichinose!" "Kudo!"

Two high school students who never called each other by their first names. A precious time, like a jewel box containing the brilliance of youth. The Kamen Rider born in the year 2023 depicts young people who never gave up and continued to challenge themselves despite their failures. Their never ending search for answers and their constant drive brought a bright light to these uncertain times.

This show was a story about the Chemy cards. There have been so many Rider productions, and they must've left a mark on the viewers hearts and minds. If each of these stories were sealed onto cards, what would they say?

What would be written on Gotchard's card?

"I'm Ichinose Houtaro! I'm a great alchemist who'll build the future world!"

A youth Rider who becomes stronger through support……

That's what we love about Gotchard.

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 34

A lore dump episode. It wasn't bad, but I had trouble focusing as they blabbed on and on lol. Lots of nice background art at least. A needed break from all the boring gray backgrounds they've been throwing at us.

Notes:

The Venus Rose sky kinda looks like the Northern lights that everyone in the States have been memeing about. Appropriate timing!

It doesn't seem like there's any rhyme or reason whether they digivolve into their human or beast spirit form first. They definitely favor the human form (maybe it's still easier to control?)

Koichi got his own digivolution sequence which, though appreciated, felt kind of weird because they had a split screen for Takuya and Koji and then a 3 way screen for Junpei, Izumi, and Tomoki. They could have just stuck Takuya, Koji, and Koichi together, but I guess the rival characters have to be separate?

Nice to finally meet Ophanimon and hear the same story we heard previously from their point of view. Not sure we needed to hear the whole war story over again, but oh well. It's probably for the kids that missed those episodes lol.

I really like Ophanimon's design/colors. Fascinated by their hair that is brunette/red at the top but blonde at the bottom. Is that even hair? Maybe just part of their helmet? It kinda looked like a mullet in some scenes lol

Lowemon is casually OP, single handedly dealing with the Phantomon. I wonder when Koichi will get to the stage where he feels more comfortable with the group.

MC Escher strikes again! This time in Cherubimon's palace. They sure love doing those kinds of backgrounds in anime.

I was a little surprised they didn't acknowledge Patamon in the scene with Ophanimon, but I guess maybe Ophanimon already knows the situation.

We learn some more about Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and Cherubimon's roles as rulers and the drama that arose from having two human-types out numbering one beast type. That does seem pretty unbalanced, they shoulda gone with an even number lol

So wait, when Cherubimon ~went to the dark side~ was that considered a digivolution? Can you digivolve into a different color palate cuz you're angry? lol

Ophanimon's plan to get the children to the digital world sounded pretty far fetched but I liked the explanation for how the kids were guided to their spirits. The destinations Ophanimon gave them via the digivices make a little more sense.

Izumi being like "I wonder if Cherubimon was in love with Ophanimon" took me by surprise. Like "huh?? That's what you got from the story?" Was that foreshadowing or was that just showing Izumi's romantic side?

[the-bluepoet]

I’ll bite the bait

What’s the au? Is it like the characters in ponyo or a different plot ? Or is it like a third secret option ??

ily sm <3

ok so! I’d probably describe it as I have them set as the characters and a rough plot… all of the above really (it’s early I’m so sorry)

lemme just- long post WOOO

so scar is ponyo! look at him look at my lil babey in fish form

and grian as you might have figured is sosuke!

plot wise I do have it planned out roughly the same way ponyo is set, with the overall scar wants to be a human(?) like grian.

same as in the movie he kinda just *takes* [ooo spoiler]’s magic to have legs just like grian! and a tail and silly ears! he wants to be like grian! he wants to run around and play!

now Jimmy and Tango are loosely set as grian’s (sosuke’s) parents! y’all can decide who’s Lisa and who’s Koichi. I however refuse to separate them <3 they found grian as an abandoned egg and decided to raise him

now as for who’s gonna be fujimoto and granmamare, well :3 wait and see

I hope I covered everything waa

[aceattorneyvsdanganronpa2025]

Part 2

That's right... it was the worst thing imaginable that we've experienced...

There would be tons of countless riots... and countless crimes each and everyday. Not to mention, there was countless diseases spread through the world and fires being spread everywhere...

And if that wasn't enough... there was the first killing game hosted by Junko Enoshima and her followers... it was absolute hell for them, and including outside of Hope's Peak, and they even turned on each other when things got more tense. But even though Junko was defeated by Makoto Naegi...

Her followers and the Remnants of Despair spread despair everywhere they went, and it felt like it was never going to end... But it weakened when the Future Foundation was formed, and they were able to counterattack the Tragedy.

Makoto Naegi put all of us into a simulation called the Neo World Program to erase all memories of us being Ultimate Despair.

But... as Izuru, I inserted a virus into the program, and a killing game had occurred there.

But in the end, Thanks to Makoto, we were able to make it out of the killing game by activating the forced shutdown and escaping the Neo World Program monitor, all whilst our memories of being ultimate despair, like planned, was wiped away. Unfortunately, Makoto would also get accused for helping the Remnants of Despair, and at the same time, the Final Killing Game began.

Later on, they discovered the secret of the Killing Game, and they ended it, but when they did, Ryota attempted to brainwash all of us into hope, but we were able to stop him.

After the Tragedy, Makoto and his team worked together to rebuild Hope's Peak Academy and make the world a better place again, whilst us Remnants of Despair decided to stay in Jabberwock Island, and we assured no one will come to us unless they have a reason to. Of course, all of us survived...apart from Chiaki...

Of course, we thought all of it was over... but we were wrong.

Intrestingly, our crazy adventure continued, but it was different for us... because we had different universities.

In my universe, I was sent back to 2012 along with Sora, Yoruko and the others, where the Tragedy never happened, and where Chiaki never died. Since then, I formed the Quartum Crew and we vowed to stop the Tragedy from happening, where as in Makoto and Kuripa's universe, Shuichi and his teammates came to their world, and learned that an evil group named "Organization Zetsubou" was trying to restart the Tragedy and even attempted to start a killing game called "Danganronpa Survivor". In Nagi's universe, simular to my universe, she wasn't satisfied with the results after the Tragedy, so she went back in time where the Tragedy never happened, and also vowed to stop things.

Woah, that's...

That explains why when we came out of the portal, we found rubble, destroyed buildings and other buildings being repaired. Still, I feel sorry for you all.

It's alright. It wasn't easy, we had a lot of downs lately, but we were able to stop what we can.

But what about the portals appearing, and the riffs causing time to be scrambled, and the multiverses collapsing and merging into one universe?? Could it be the work of the Basilisk again?

[------------------]

This part is where we had also discovered some bad news.

Oh boy... this can't be good...

What's the bad news?

[—————————]

Let's put it together. Hajime, in your universe, you saved Sato and Natsumi from being killed, you stopped Ruruka, Seiko and Ando from getting expelled and exposed Hope's Peak Academy of what it really is by broadcast, you stopped human traffickers and serial killers like Kanade Otonokoji and Genocider Syo, and you were able to prevent other worst outcomes from happening.

Makoto, Kuripa, in our universe, we ran into Shuichi Saihara and his group and helped them out, we were able to stop Koichi Kizakura from getting convicted of the murder of a street thug, we helped out Kaede recover her memories after ERROR4MESSAGE erased them, we rescued Akeru Yozora and Komaru and Toko adopted them as their daughter, Makoto, you and Kuripa were on the run after Yui died, but then we were able to find the real Traitor, which is Celestia Ludenberg, AKA, Taeko Yasuhiro, then things went south as Orginazation Zetsubou attacked us, we went to Washington DC, where we met the Freedom Foundation and learned of their enemy helping out Organization Zetsubou, although we went through a lot of stress and we even ended up fighting each other at one point, but we made up and we dealt with the bigger enemy; Zen Katagiri. Then Kaede got trapped in a building, and things got more tense. Kaede eventually escaped, but she sadly lost Monodam, thanks to Kanade Otonokoji. Then, you went off and decided to charge into Organization Zetsubou, alone, then you fell into despair thanks to Tsumugi, and we had to come charging in as we fought Organization Zetsubou and attempted to wake you up.

And Nagi, in your universe, you joined the Future Foundation, and you did your best to help out Class 77th, even changing their names and identities, and you even tried to help the remaning Warriors of Hope, even though they still didn't trust you and dubbed you as "the demon" whilst preparing to stop Monaca.

And in your world, Phoenix, you became a lawyer to clear the names of the accused, and you even stopped a powerful prosecutor by the name of "Manfred von Karma."

If you put all those timelines together, that means, all the characters we've all met in our universes are still out there, including our enemies are out there somewhere.

[—————————]

Wait, but that would mean...

All our enemies we've faced, like Maverick Storm, Kanade Otonokoji, Junya Utsugi and The Copycat Killer are still out there, especially the Basilisk!

No... Dammit... Not again...

[—————————]

That also means that I have to see that bastard Gyalusetsu again?! Including Mikihiko, Yukari and Emilia Feng!? Why can't live be so fucking simple for once?!

[—————————]

You don't think von Karma will show up here, will he?

I hope not... But I don't like where this is going next...

[End of Part 2]

[ingoodjesst]

i watched "godzilla minus one", and it was pretty solid for my first time watching a godzilla movie!! beyond enjoying the action that effectively conveyed the sheer scale and impact of godzilla's movement and destruction, i found the themes engaging too. we see (non-blood) families form and repair their homes and heal, we see ex-navy try to disarm the destructive weapons they set, and we see koichi shikishima the ex-kamikaze pilot grapple with his ptsd and survivor's guilt.

the fact godzilla was predominantly an allegory for the trauma of war was an interesting take, though of course the trauma of nuclear warfare persists as a motif. but the theme that most stood out to me was the challenge to this cultural idea that dying for a cause is somehow noble rather than just dying.

when shikishima returns to (the rubble of) his home, he is immediately admonished by sumiko for deserting his duty to die and returning dishonorably. he then struggles with his cowardice over and over again, afraid of making emotional connections when he resists letting noriko into his life, rejects akiko calling him "dad", and - during a traumatic episode - even briefly denies the fact that he's alive at all. but when faced with the consequences of suppressing his trauma until it - godzilla - arrives larger and more destructive than before, he finally begins to open up. i particularly liked the sequence of shots during the scene where shikishima confesses the burdens he's been carrying to her. it transitions from individual shot/reverse-shots of the two, to sharing a frame, to finally being in focus together as they manage to connect for the first time.

in the process of fighting godzilla, shikishima realizes the "honorable" answer is not to die for vengeance, but to face your remorse head on while choosing to live. because in a way, choosing to die would still be running away from the struggle of accepting your past and fighting for a brighter future. rather than dying and evading the consequences thereafter (as the japanese government demanded), it is braver to embrace the inherent value of human life, including your own, and whatever comes with it.

even the fact that [spoilers] godzilla is defeated but not annihilated reflects the reality that trauma usually sticks around, able to flare up again; it's just that you learn how to carry it with you, especially with the support of the community and family around you.

i just really love that the story subverts the setup that shikishima should finish his internal war by sacrificing himself as he "should've" in the actual war. instead, through ingenuity and camaraderie, the real triumph is learning to honor the fallen not by mindlessly throwing away his life for those who perished, but by deliberately, collectively paving a future for those who survive.

all that said, i do find it possibly convenient that the story sidesteps the issue of what japan was actually fighting for in ww2 and the atrocities committed by the japanese empire. the movie does take care to distinguish between the japanese government and the private citizens who take up the fight against godzilla. it helps for sure, since it allows our cast to criticize the government's decisions. however, i can't help but wonder if that still makes the historical narrative seem a bit too clean, especially when the veterans claim this time they can make a difference, when uh... idk if helping japan actually win the war would've been the BEST...?? generously, that might not have been their exact intended meaning, but it does feel oddly framed lol. also how lucky is it that seemingly none of the veterans who volunteer are complicit in any of the countless war crimes committed by the japanese army lol

also the women in this film mostly exist in maternal or literal child roles to support the men's growth lol and it's a shame their stories don't get equal examination, but at least the emotional vulnerability still feels real and i called her surviving and we take those bc i woulda been EVEN MADDER OTHERWISE ok !!!!!

besides those issues, i would hardly say the film is difficult to predict - it's fairly straightforward and even the setup for its subversions is not too hard to catch. but i don't think that made it necessarily less compelling or the themes less resonant. it's hard not to appreciate how the movie wants you to see the value in life and believe in the future. because no matter what pain you may carry, you don't have to confront it alone.

[allat0u]

WHY DID I JUST REALIZE THIS.

Lobomon, Loweemon

Kouji, Koichi

THEY HAVE SIMILAR NAMES IN BOTH HUMAN AND DIGIMON FORM- I’M STUPID 😭🤚

[rubykgrant]

Because I've been thinking about DigiMon lately; I kinda wish that during Frontier, ALL of the antagonist Legendary Warrior DigiMon had the same situation as the main kids. That is, they were ALSO children who were Digi-Destined, but when they arrived in the Digital World, they were contacted by CherubiMon, who manipulated them by either amplifying shame and guilt they had concerning their faults, or promising them a chance to feel special.

When the main kids meet the antagonist DigiMon, they don't realize these are other kids at first, because they only ever see them while fighting and transformed with their Spirit Evolution. Eventually, when one of them is finally defeated a tired-out, the main kids see them transform back! They finally realize these "evil DigiMon" are just like them! Except, y'know. Being jerks to the EXTREME.

The only one who they never see as a child is the DuskMon, who also has never encountered the Digi-Destined as children. Koichi still has the same problem, having gotten injured on his way to the train station, and so his body is still in the human world, while his spirit came to the Digital World. His memories are painful, and so he hides from them by always remaining transformed. When he finally has to confront Koji, it isn't just being reminded that he has a brother, he finally sees his own human face again, because they're twins.

Koichi is the first kid to officially switch sides, but soon after, the others all join the rest of the Digi-Destined as well, and their Spirit Forms gain new appearances now that they aren't being influenced by the evil side of CherubiMon. Now, there is a whole team of 10 children with the power to become the Legendary Warriors! I also just think it would be a cool angle to have "villain" Digi-Destined~

[noritaro]

SUPER genuine can you go nuts and tell me all about and give me a run down on Godzilla minus one so I know if I should go sees it (I love spoilers)

FELLOW BASED SPOILER LIKER 🤝 hot take but spoilers dont actually tell you anything about a film, tv show or otherwise, you could say the entire story but won't get the full experience from that because your enjoyment of media is all in the execution of everything that brings it together

anywayysss Godzilla spoilers on the cut, I'm super rambley btw oops

The entire film mostly centers around the actually wonderful human protagonist Koichi Shikishima (I fucking hate human characters in kaiju media it is a big deal if I actually like em) and how he deals with life + PTSD after his encounter with Godzilla in Odo Island when he (honestly understandably) decided to flee his duty as a Kamikaze Pilot during WWII

like with every japanese Godzilla film in existence theres a political message- and this one is one of the most BLATANT, with the constant jabbing at the Japanese government for not giving 2 shits about the lives of its people and anti-war messaging but thats just a given since this is a post WWII film

its essentially a depressing political drama in the form of a Godzilla film- I GUARANTEE THAT YOU WILL FUCKING BAWL FOR KOICHI OH MY GOD, this film reeeeally makes you care about him and his found family in the form of Noriko (a woman he met after returning from war) and Akiko (an orphaned baby Noriko took in after encountering her dying mother)

every human character actually adds something to the film- every single one of them, theyre all likable, and they feel real

also... THE FUCKING GODZILLA THEME PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE CLIMAX AND THEN THE SUDDEN DEAFENING SILENCE AT THE PEAK OF THE ACTION- I CANNOT EXPLAIN IT WITH WORDS 😭 it was so mind numbing, my bones shook to its very core

AND- THE FUCKINGGG BUILD UP SCENE OF GOJIS ATOMIC BREATH OUGHHHWAAAAGH

[risa-desktop]

What your favorite JoJo character says about you

No minor villains or tertiary characters

JoJoes, JoBros, and JoFoes only.

Jonathan Joestar: You See the potential of an all-good superman type character (the old ones, not the modern ones,) but you're also into older media

Speedwagon: If you played Baulder's Gate, you love to see characters that stick by their friends, no matter what, but if you didn't there's a chance you're saying it for the memes, or you too pine for a man who's already engaged.

Erina: You probably don't exist, but perchance, you wanted to see her kick Dio's ass, and you have ideas for a fanfic where she does

Antonio: You have memorized the funeral speach from How To Train Your Dragon 2

Dio Brando: I have never seen someone who likes Dio who weren't already abducted by the "stands are peak combat" hivemind. If you aren't in that, you are here for the chaos, or you empathize with his sense of ambition.

Joseph Joestar: You like his gimicks… and you hate that he cheated on his wife… that's it

Ceazar: Your favorite part is Golden Wind but choosing an italian from the italian part is too hard.

Lisa Lisa: You are self-destructively curious about how she ended up going down and dirty with her step-bro, or you are really REALLY lesbian. If you are AMAB, then you are trans.

Eisidisi: You don't exist.

Wammu: Your favorite trope is fighting fair, and when someone breaks the rules, you refuse to break them in turn. You just hold the grudge in until you pop.

Kars: You have a kink for the "ultimate life-form" trope, and you probably had a crush on Cell or Shadow the Hedgehog.

Jotaro Kujo: You have the blandest taste imaginable, and you probably had a crush on Sasuke or Shadow the Hedgehog.

Noriaki: You are thirteen and you know he was MVP in the DIO fight. You were also pissed that he was retroactively replaced with a dog for serveral arcs.

Avdol: Black solidarity, and you know he was MVP in the Vanilla Ice Cream fight.

Polnareff: You call him "The Only French Person I'll Ever Love" and you are a fan of all the chariot arcana from persona games.

Iggy: You prefer his OVA face, over the half-human deal he was redrawn with. And you chant "Who's here for the chaos!" every day before pestering your friends.

Josuke: You love Persona 4 and you're always making references to it that nobody else understands.

Okuyasu: Himbos are peak

Koichi: Always making "reliable guy" jokes even if others don't understand, or if they would understand, you'll use something a little more niche

Yukako: You ignore people saying that the yandere trope ending well is toxic, but I need to write something good, so you probably wrote fanfics about her getting some kind of help and getting together with Koichi without being aggressively abusive.

Hayato: You have childhood trauma

Yoshikage Kira: You have a massive boner for Patrick Bateman, and sometimes you pretend like he had depth

Giorno Giovana: You have one of few correct choices, but you also get really mad when someone says "he has the mixed personality of Jonathan, and Dio" and there's an off chance that you are that someone.

Fugo: You actually read Purple Haze Feedback

Naracia: You have gaslit yoursef to thinking he survived the Diavolo King Crimson fight, which he did.

Abbaccio: You like the idea of a "dommy mommy" but saying that when refering to a man

Bruno: Either you're able to make discussion about his depth, or you only make jokes about him being a mom. I don't know, I'm neither.

Diavolo: You love that King Crimson is just so contradictory and complicated, and Dopio's facade was just creepy to make you cringe with your entire body when he was carying Bruno up those stairs. Oh, wait, you just like the Metalica fight.

Jolyne Kujo: You either want to kiss her, kill her, or be her. Also you have a nice appreciation for her ingenuity and ruthlessness.

Ermes: You are lesbian as fuck, and you hevily empathize with those Shadow the Hedgehog memes about loving latinas, which ironically dips its own toes into race-fetishization, but ignore that

Foo-Fighters: You saw that one fan-comic about them in pergatory talking to the person who's body they stole and you can't get over it. You give no shits about canon, as long as it's good. Either that, or you lover overalls, and that makes you go "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Also you probably make jokes about FF and Mikitaka being autistic

Anasui: You also liked Yukako, but you acknowledged what makes her gross, so you latched yourself onto the respectful version of the unrequited love trope.

Emporio: See Hayato

Weather Report: You knew he was a means to an end, sigh also you saw his backstory and gave him an honerary black card, but you know damn well he wouldn't use it.

Enrico Pucci: Black Solidarity again but you like part 6 more, or you think Made in Heaven is the coolest design for a stand, which it is.

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Ghost in the Shell

Rating: NR

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Cast: Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Otsuka, Iemasa Kayumi, Koichi Yamadera, Yutaka Nakano, Tamio Ohki, Tessyo Genda, Naruki Masahisa, Masato Yamanouchi, Shinji Ogawa, Mitsuru Miyamoto, Kazuhiro Yamaji, Shigeru Chiba, Hiroshi Yanaka, Ginzo Matsuo, Takashi Matsuyama

Release year: 1995

Genres: science fiction, action

Blurb: It's the year 2029. The barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as The Puppetmaster begins involving them in politics, Section 9 - a group of cybernetically-enhanced cops - is called in to investigate and stop The Puppetmaster.

[aquietlifesblog]

Ravening Wolves (Dio x F!Reader) 9/?

"When it's all over," he breathes, "when I stand supreme, and am no longer a slave to fate... I shall show you heaven..."

OR

At long last, the time has come to set your grand scheme in motion: the elimination of Jotaro Kujo and Dio's glorious resurrection. The Age of Heaven is near, and you won't let the Joestars stop you—no matter how hard they fight. You've defied fate and death for Dio. Perhaps one day you'll tell him how you feel. A sequel to 'Hungry Eyes.'

Read on AO3

First Chapter | Masterlist |

Chapter 9: Bow Down

Incense wafts through the drawing room, veiling the space in a sweet, smoky haze.

You sit beneath a large self-portrait, dressed in Edwardian splendor, seated in the same ornate chair you now rest upon, sipping tea with grace. Dio lounges on the chaise nearby, a satisfied smirk gracing his lips as Francesca, another one of your devoted followers, brings Okuyasu and Koichi in. 

Their eyes, once full of life, now reflect only torment, a testament to the formidable power of her Stand. You can't help but marvel at her ability, it has been useful time and time again.

"Greetings, my Lord and Lady," she bows gracefully, the folds of her crimson robe pooling around her.

"Francesca," you acknowledge.

"What do we have here?" Dio purrs, his golden gaze fixated on the tormented pair. Although unfamiliar with this servant, he senses the power of her abilities, the potential. 

“My stand allows me to distort the appearance of everything it reflects.”

Okuyasu and Koichi, ensnared in their mental struggles, remain oblivious to the exchange. Yet, their haunted expressions reveal the internal turmoil of their fractured minds. But as their gaze falls upon you and Dio, their twisted worlds transform you into beacons of salvation, everything Francesca sees you as. 

You prepare to rise, to assume the role of a benevolent god, to welcome the two into the fold, but Dio steps forward and mimics you instead. 

"Fear not. You shall find peace and purpose beneath my benevolent rule," Dio tells them, his voice dripping with false sincerity as flesh buds unfurl from the golden strands of his hair, sealing their fate with a sinister pulse.

Their agony gives way to an eerie calmness. 

"Take them to Pucci," Dio commands, eyes gleaming with anticipation. 

Francesca nods, escorting the now-obedient duo out the door, passing Vanilla Ice on the way.

Dio's gaze lingers on them briefly before returning to you.

“Pucci?” You raise your brow, “Not Vanilla Ice?”

"That's what I said, is it not? Do take you to take issue with my judgment?" 

“I don't believe Pucci is up to the task," you state, your eyes meeting his. "Tell me where he is, and I will assign someone to assist him."

"You find him unsuitable?" Dio raises an inquisitive brow, inviting you to elaborate. "Why? You don't dislike Pucci." 

"I don't dislike him, nor do I find his abilities lacking. He's proven himself capable on more than one occasion. However...you never turned him into a vampire, did you?" You ask in turn, meeting his gaze. "Surely you must find him lacking in some aspects."

"Pucci's humanity and virtue are central to my plans. If he wished to ascend to a higher realm of power, he would no longer be suitable as my friend." Dio admits, settling back on the chaise, though his gaze still lingers. He looks as though he's solving a puzzle, one you laid at his feet without warning. 

"Ah. Such consideration. How unfortunate that you possessed so little of that with me." You take a sip of tea. 

Dio rolls his eyes at your remark, frustration simmering beneath the surface. He's given you power, immortality, the world at your feet, and a treasured place at his side, yet here you are, questioning him.

"Is this what our conversation devolves into? Bitter reminiscing?" Dio asks as a sly smile forms across his features. "I thought we were past that. You're still here, aren't you? Enjoying the fruits of my gifts."

You lift your shoulder, avoiding his gaze with calculated nonchalance. It's a subtle gesture, yet it does not escape Dio's perceptive gaze. It's a look he's seen before, usually on the face of Vanilla Ice. Dio scoffs inwardly, annoyed at the thought of how "great friends" you must be with his most devoted follower to have adopted even his most subtle habits.

"You're jealous," Dio states with a knowing smirk, the corners of his lips curled in amusement. "Jealous of the privileges I've allowed Pucci, the trust I place within him You wish to have me to yourself, how could I have forgotten."

You scoff and hit him with a sideways glance.

"Jealousy is a useless emotion. I merely find it...intriguing. You scorn human nature at every turn, and yet..."

"And yet, only you occupy this treasured spot at my side. Pucci is an ally, a friend, but even now, with the world at my feet, you are the one I desire above all," Dio continues, his voice a seductive murmur. "You doubt me, as you always have, but the truth remains." 

Whether it's flattery or an honest declaration, you can never be quite sure.

"Soon, my friend, we shall see the fruits of our….collaboration," he continues, a sinister smile playing on his lips. "I will give you all that you yearn for." 

The trio proceeds through the silent town. The houses, a fusion of Edwardian and Art Deco architecture, stand proud.  Towering trees are ancient sentinels, their branches intertwined, casting dappled shadows on the cobblestone streets below.

Hol Horse can't shake an unsettling feeling. 

"This place gives me the creeps," he mutters, his eyes nervously scanning the old structures.

 Polnareff, walking beside him, nods in agreement. 

"Feels like we've stepped into a history book."

The distant toll of a church bell breaks the stillness, rousing the town from slumber. The trio moves toward the source, drawn to the beckoning sound.

All around them, doors begin to open, and children appear, bags of books and paper in hand. 

Beyond the church lies a quaint business district, picturesque with hand-painted signs designating a bakery, a butcher, and a tailor shop named 'Crimson Stitches' within view. A general store stands just beyond, promising an assortment of goods. There must also be a school. 

Though as parents cast weary glances at the strangers from their doorsteps, and tradesmen take to the streets in preparation for work, something dark lingers in the shadows. 

"We're being watched," Josuke whispers, nodding toward the alleys where cloaked figures stand, unnoticed or perhaps purposefully ignored,  by the civilians, standing like silent watchers in the dark. Yet they allow them to pass.

And as the group approaches the church, Josuke notices an unfamiliar symbol on its door — a moon in eclipse. The church aligns perfectly with the mansion above as if the building itself is an altar.

But then, as if summoned, the grand doors of the church swing open with a dramatic flourish, unveiling a sanctum of opulent beauty.

"Strangers in our town, seeking sanctuary or stirring chaos?" A calm yet eerie voice cuts through the air. A figure then emerges from the shadows of the doorway, cloaked in the same crimson attire as the watchers in the alley, though his eyes seem to glow with an unsettling knowingness.

"Just passing through, sir. No need for trouble." Hol Horse, always quick to respond, tips his hat. 

"All are welcome in these halls. Come, find solace,” the man reassures, stepping fully into the light. 

"No thanks. We’re busy.” Josuke eyes the man, wearily. He’s had enough of cloaked weirdos for one lifetime. 

"But I insist, Josuke Higashikata," he lowers his head. "It is selfish of me to ask, but we need you; you must help us, and I can help you."

" 'Help us?' " A cold realization tightens Josuke's chest.

"This is a trap, mon ami. If we stop now, we’ll be playing into their hands," Polnareff warns.

“You’re free to go if you wish, but you will not be permitted near the grounds of the manor. The Chosen will protect their patrons with their lives, and I do not wish to see such bloodshed. Think of who may be affected.” 

The man points to the streets, to the children drawing nearer, the workers with placid smiles strewn across their faces, and the cloaked figures watching their every move. 

Josuke considers the risks. What if these people genuinely need help? Could he risk a full-on brawl in the streets? 

"Maybe we should play along," Josuke mutters.

 "...A fight indoors may prove advantageous,” Polnareff nods after a moment, and Hol Horse favors anything that tips the odds in their favor. 

So, the three follow the cloaked man into the church, and the heavy wooden doors shut with an ominous creak. The interior is vast; wooden pews arranged in neat rows lead toward a crimson carpet and ornate altar. Stained glass windows depict the moon in eclipse,  mirroring the symbol carved into the door.

Large tapestries weave a silent tale, a history unfamiliar to Josuke. Though there’s no time to appreciate the architecture. His attention is drawn to the man standing before the altar. He adjusts his hood, tilting it back just enough to reveal a somewhat familiar face.  He resembles the young stand user from the Pendleton Estate, the one who tried to stab him. 

Determination etches across Josuke's features as he summons Crazy Diamond — but the man doesn't seem to notice. 

He isn't a Stand user, they realize at the same time, yet that doesn’t mean he's defenseless. 

“So what do you want?” Josuke asks, and the man gestures for them to step forward, welcoming them into the sanctuary—the beating heart of paradise.

"This is the very spot where the  ‘goddess’ stood, where she promised heaven to those who believed, a heaven to be brought forth by DIO."

Josuke shares a wary glance with Polnareff and Hol Horse, uncertain of the man's motives.

"What's with all this 'heaven' talk?" Hol Horse interjects, skepticism evident in his tone.

The cloaked figure shifts his attention to Hol Horse, his voice carrying an almost hypnotic cadence.

"DIO is heralding a world devoid of fear, anxiety, or turmoil. Every soul will find peace, a sanctuary away from the chaos beyond. We've all sought refuge here, yearning for tranquility. What could be more serene?"

Hol Horse, unimpressed, mutters,

"Sounds like a cult to me."

"Tranquility? You call this tranquility?" Josuke gestures to their surroundings. The church, to him, is nothing but a testament to your and Dio's vanity. "Those two aren't gods. They're vampires, draining the life out of you and everyone in this town."

"My brother and I had no say," The man responds, "we were brought here. Diva was too young to remember our life before, Father too grief-stricken by Mother's death. I alone saw her for what she truly is. Just as you say, Josuke, she's a monster. Now, my brother is gone, and I am left here alone."

Josuke empathizes, yet distrust lingers. Something about the man feels off, wrong. He senses a watchful presence, an unshakable feeling of being observed. But as he scans the room, marble statues meet his gaze.

"So, what are you asking of us?" Polnareff interjects.

“Help,” the man answers, “I’ve attended this church for many years now, and I am familiar with its secrets. There is a crypt beneath this church, and catacombs lead to the mansion. I will show you the way, and give you what you need but you must free us before it's too late.” 

“Catacombs?” Hol Horse recoils. “You mean there’s just a bunch of dead folks down there?”

“What, Hol Horse? Afraid of a few bones?” Polnareff mocks him. 

“There are no cemeteries above ground here.” The man explains. 

“Why not?” Josuke raises a brow. 

“To keep the people from dwelling on the inevitability of death. The sick and elderly are brought to her, you see. And those who pass away rest beneath the church. It is the job of the clergy to tell their kin that they've 'joined with the body of the Goddess,' preserving their peace of mind.”

“...well,” Hol Horse says after a moment, “I guess that’s one way to control folks  — keep ‘em stupid and happy.”

“I don't buy it,” Josuke declares. “I can't trust you; for all I know, you've made up this whole story, and the moment we go off with you, we'll be ambushed.” He summons Crazy Diamond, its fist closing in on the cloaked man's face. Unflinching, the man remains calm, even as the Stand's fist stops mere centimeters from him. He doesn't notice a thing. 

“I understand your skepticism. Hence, I present this... think of it as a peace offering.” He produces something from the sleeve of his robe: a DISC. It gleams beneath the light of the stained glass, and as something on it begins to play, a familiar voice fills the air.

“Josuke...I...I might die here. So, if I do, please tell your mother I said hello.” A familiar voice speaks, his voice like an old recording.

Josuke gasps. The disk plays what must be a memory; water filling with blood, the outline of a baby, and Josuke holding Shizuka for the first time. 

“Is that…”

“Joseph Joestar’s memory DISC.” The man answers in his strange, hypnotic way.

Josuke, though unsure, takes the DISC into his hands, tilts it in the light, and the memories skip backward. There he sees an endless world of sand, battles that shouldn’t have been won, Jotaro and Polnareff in their younger years, a dog, and two others he doesn’t recognize. 

He moves the disk again and there’s a giant man with wings, more beautiful than even Dio. He hovers above Joseph, smoke, and debris all around. 

“Goodbye forever, JoJo!” The giant taunts, voice filled with sadistic glee before the fingers of a severed hand puncture his throat. Josuke doesn’t quite understand that particular memory, so he turns the DISC again and watches a blond man settle into a chair with a dramatic leap. He seems aloof, almost cool before Joseph slides a card across the table. 

“I saw that! Deal the cards correctly!” His voice is low and thick, with an Italian accent. He points an accusatory finger Joseph's way. 

He moves the DISC once more, turning it forward and back until he finds what must be an early memory, that of a woman with graying hair and a gentle demeanor. She smiles down at Joseph, his tiny face reflected in her soft blue eyes. 

“This is the real deal,” Josuke breathes. “These are Mr. Joestar's memories…But…how did you get a hold of this? What’s your game?” He tucks the disk away in the pocket of his jacket, close to his heart. 

“Father Pucci keeps his DISCs here, in this chapel. It was easy enough to obtain. And there is no ‘game’ here. Is it truly so difficult to believe that perhaps not all of us are true believers?” The man frowns. “All I ask is that you remember us.” 

He turns, and as he makes his way down the hall, Josuke chooses to believe him. He exchanges a weary glance with Hol Horse and Polnareff, who both know what it’s like to serve a would-be God against their will and better judgment. They nod, and the trio trails behind him, though they maintain a cautious distance. 

Though, as promised, a bookshelf conceals a secret passage in a back room, filled with trinkets and offerings. The room gives way to a staircase, overtaken by cobwebs, that descend into the cool, dark earth. The man grabs a flashlight and guides them through the crypt—a solemn expanse of dusty white stone, a small labyrinth where shadows cling to the stone like ghosts.

Among the many chambers, only one of them is sealed and it appears to be dedicated to a couple named 'Bishop.'

"May you rest together in death," Josuke reads from the plaque. "It’s that name again. Who are they?"

“...she has many secrets, I couldn’t begin to know them all…” the man replies. 

It’s quiet, too quiet. The stone beneath their feet is worn and uneven, and each step reverberates with hushed echoes. They take a direct route through winding corridors, some lined with dark bones, others with faded inscriptions. Cobwebs hang like delicate veils between the cracks and water drips down from somewhere, it's echo like a mournful heartbeat. 

Josuke and the others keep their guard up; the catacombs are a perfect place to die. 

But then, without warning, a mouse darts across the floor, putting Polnareff on edge. 

“What’s the matter? Afraid of a few mice?” Hol Horse mocks, his low voice easing the tension that seemed to press in from all sides. 

“Shut it.” Polnareff huffs. 

The group reaches the end before long and there they find a wrought-iron door, bolted to the stone with an expert hand. The man produces an old key from his robe and forces it into the old lock. It takes a moment, but the door unlocks with a heavy click. 

"I can go no further," The man tells them, "I cannot risk being seen and you must be careful. Act swiftly, for there will be no second chance."

Though he's still uncertain, Josuke won't allow a debt to go unpaid. "We won't forget you when this is over."

“The Speedwagon Foundation has experience rehabilitating those who have been brainwashed. They’ll help the people of this town.” Polnareff says. The man nods and shuts the door once they cross through the threshold. 

He stands for a moment, basking in the silence of the space before locking the door. 

He pays no mind to the mice or the webs that cling to the walls and doesn’t bother to dust himself off as he moves the bookshelf back in place. 

Instead, the young man returns to his clerical duties; tending to the offerings and cleaning the altar. 

But as he bows and bends and stretches upright, his hood falls against his shoulders. 

And there, nestled in the dark curls that grace his head, is a DISC.  

The trio slips through the door, leaving one oppressive darkness for another. Cold brick walls surround them, adorned with unlit sconces that Polnareff meets head-on. 

Though turning a corner, they notice a dim light, shining through a slightly open door. They enter with the utmost care, drawn by the dim flickering light of a lantern on a large wooden table. The light illuminates glass enclosures that house a variety of beetles, their iridescent colors catching in the feeble light. There are others as well,  more specimens mounted on the wall, pinned, and labeled with meticulous care. 

"Somebody got themselves a hobbie or somethin'?" Hol Horse remarks, eyeing the insect collection with curiosity. 

Josuke wrinkles his nose.

"This isn't what I expected to find in a vampire's mansion. What's Dio doing with a collection like this?"

Polnareff leans in, inspecting the neatly arranged insects.

"Maybe he's into entomology. Who knows with that guy."

Hol Horse, skeptical, crosses his arms. 

"Or maybe he's got a plan involving bugs. I wouldn't put it past ‘em."

They inspect the room and take the lantern when they find little else. Soon, they stumble upon another chamber, a large chamber where rust-colored stains whisper tales of torment, and chains ominously hang from the walls.

Polnareff grimaces at the sight. 

"What sort of sick games does Dio play down here?"

Josuke's eyes dart around the chamber, capturing the grim details. 

"We need to find Jotaro, Koichi, and Okuyasu fast. No telling what they might have been subjected to."

Hol Horse, used to Dio’s extremities,  notices something glinting in the corner of the room. 

He kneels and picks up a gold pin, its square shape engraved with an open palm. Recognition flickers in his eyes, but before he can voice his thoughts, his attention is drawn to the figure standing at the threshold.

"We've got company."

The figure steps forward, revealing their face, or rather, the absence thereof. A featureless mask hides any semblance of identity, and the air thickens with tension.

As they lock eyes, the mysterious newcomer summons his Stand — a large bull with glowing red eyes that charges at Josuke with the force of a stampede. But Crazy Diamond seizes the bull by the horns and tosses it across the room. Hol Horse aims at the assailant, but another Stand, one with the properties of sand, attacks him from behind. Chariot, however, counters its advance.

“It’s an ambush!” Polnareff yells, as though the presence of a third assailant, one with a Stand that wields a strange purple slime, hadn’t made that clear.

It’s a battle royale.

Crazy Diamond collides with the bull Stand, creating shockwaves that send their assailants sprawling. Silver Chariot cuts through a wave of sand, and Hol Horse provides support from the sidelines.

But the cloaked assailants move with eerie synchronicity, attacking from multiple angles, their ranks replenishing as they fall. But Josuke, fueled by determination, lands precise punches with Crazy Diamond, knocking out one Stand User after another, though exhaustion threatens to overtake him.

As the battle continues, Josuke’s body begins to ache. He fights harder, but Crazy Diamond's movements feel sluggish and strained.

Eventually, someone knocks him down, and as he struggles to rise, to stand up and continue the fight,  his heart sinks to the floor. Because Koichi, his friend, now stands there, a flesh bud implanted in his forehead. 

Echoes ACT 3 appears beside him, amplifying gravity in the room, forcing Hol Horse and Polnareff to the floor with anguished cries. Amid the chaos, a sense of helplessness washes over Josuke. 

“Koichi!” He yells, but the pained screams of his friends are louder.  He turns, rising from the floor despite the pain to help his allies. But just as he begins to find his footing,  another Stand, a mass of green muscles and gleaming red fists, crashes into him with overwhelming force.

Josuke is sent flying, and his body sprawls across the cold, hard ground. He grunts, pain ripping through his chest as the first of the stand rains down upon his Crazy Diamond. The stand is strong, but it isn't fast. Has he not fought Polnareff, had he not been ambushed, had he not been worried about his friends, he would have won this fight. 

He grits his teeth, trying to push through the searing pain, attempting to regain his footing once more, but the martial arts master controlling the Stand is a formidable adversary, and Josuke senses that the odds are stacked against him — and that they have been from the beginning. 

The very friends he vowed to protect are now suffering, one under Dio's control, the others pinned to the floor, each blow Crazy Diamond takes reverberates through his tired form. The room blurs as pain and exhaustion threaten to overwhelm him.

And as the powerhouse Stand raises its mighty fist for another strike, Josuke's mind echoes with the struggles of those who came before him — Jonathan, Joseph, Jotaro. He can't help but question the fairness of it all. The weight of the Joestar Legacy, a legacy of battles fought across generations, feels like an unbearable burden on his shoulders. Another powerful descends upon him, and Josuke succumbs to the weight of exhaustion and the despair of an unending fight. 

The room, once filled with the symphony of battle, falls into an eerie silence as Josuke crumples to the floor.

Josuke's eyes flicker open, met by the heady scent of roses and the opulence of what seems to be a study filled with dark wood furniture, rich fabrics, and bookshelves lined with ancient lore and dusty manuscripts. The room around him is luxurious, a far cry from the horror of the dungeon below. But panic grips him as he realizes he can't move. His arms and feet are securely bound, leaving him vulnerable in this luxurious prison.

"Josuke Higashikata," a voice, smooth and dripping with charm, caresses his senses. He turns toward the door and follows a line of gold shoes and stylish red clothes upward to meet your eyes.

You smile, and advance before leaning down to his level.

"It's so nice of you to join us."

You revel in the triumph, the taste of victory sweeter than you imagined it to be. 

Moments ago you'd simply been waiting, the drawing room draped in profound silence, a stark contrast to the chaos that unfolded below. You sensed the ebb and flow of battle, bodies and falling moving like chess pieces in a game you have yet to see. You were impatient, and your fingers tapped against the plush arms of your chair as a testament to that. Meanwhile, Vanilla Ice lurked outside the door, and you knew he wanted to fight as well. 

Dio, however, remained unperturbed. Reclining once again across the chaise, a large book in hand.

His languid posture was almost infuriating. 

'Is this not the same mistake he made in Egypt?' You thought. 

"Patience," he advised, his amber eyes locking onto yours. "You believe in me, don't you? So you must believe in Pucci. There's no need to allow your jealousy to cloud your judgment. The plan we made is unfolding as we speak."

You insisted you weren't jealous but were forced to relent when, as if on cue, the door swung open.

For a fleeting moment, Vanilla Ice's deadly gaze pierced through the door before stepping aside and allowing Pucci to enter with Josuke's unconscious body in tow.

Dio's self-satisfied smirk spokes volumes then — a silent 'I told you so.'

"The plan has been executed seamlessly. All three have been subdued." Pucci stepped forward with a confident demeanor, a subtle yet triumphant smile playing on his lips.

"Good. Have them held for now, won't you? Especially Hol Horse, I still have use for him. But make sure he understands his place."

And as Pucci departed from the room, you found your attention drawn back to Josuke. In the absence of battle, he appeared younger, and more vulnerable. His features, usually hardened in the heat of combat, now held a certain softness and fragility. Then, more than ever, he reminded you of your sister.

Dio, noting your shift in focus, called for Vanilla Ice, who wasted no time kneeling before his lord. 

"You called for me, Lord DIO?"  

 "Vanilla Ice, take Josuke to the study. Ensure he is properly restrained; I want him conscious for what comes next." 

And now, standing above him, you savor the moment of conquest.

Perhaps you were wrong to doubt Pucci. 

Josuke, however, doesn't yield to defeat. He calls for Crazy Diamond, and you react swiftly, turning your body into mist to evade his attack. You were slower to do so, Josuke notes, you're more vulnerable than you were before.

But then, Déjà Vu, your own Stand, emerges, and just as it seemed another battle would take hold, throwing your study into chaos, a shiver runs down Josuke's spine and a cold, empty presence completely engulfs him. He turns to find Cream's deathly facade hovering above him, its maw open, unveiling the void within. It gurgles and growls hungrily ready to consume him whole. Josuke failed to notice Vanilla Ice in the corner, your silent guardian. 

"There's no use fighting, Josuke," you mock.

"What do you want with me?" His voice croaks, defiance still present despite the dire situation at hand. You find his resilience amusing, a glimmer of entertainment in this twisted game.

"What I want, Josuke, is to see you suffer."

"Yeah, I get that part. But why? What's your problem with the Joestars? With me? Or are you just another one of Dio's goons? You said before that you love him, right? He must have you eating out the palm of his hand," he taunts. 

Your composure falters for a moment, a subtle reaction that Josuke keenly picks up on.

"Ah, you must think you're clever. Just as annoying as your father, I see," you retort. However, if he's truly curious, you can spare a moment to enlighten him as to why he must die.

With a sudden movement, you seize his face between your fingers, squeezing his cheeks inward. His expression contorts in pain, yet his eyes shoot defiant glares, a futile rebellion against the inevitable.

"If you believe my 'problem' is with the Joestar family, I'm afraid you're mistaken, young man. It isn't the Joestar bloodline I take issue with, but rather the Pendleton blood that flows through your veins. That family took something from me—many things, in fact."

The room seems to darken as the weight of your words hangs in the air. Josuke, bound and vulnerable, listens intently as a twisted smile crosses your face as you delve into the narrative that fuels your revenge. Because the longer he can keep you talking, the longer you're distracted, the greater his chance of escape.

"I would have allowed my grievances to rest, had it not been for Jotaro Kujo murdering Dio all those years ago. That one act was just another instance of everything I love being ripped away—all because Erina Pendleton spawned a child from her vile womb. Just another act of her 'innocent cruelty," Your words drip with bitterness, and you tighten your grip on Josuke's face as if to emphasize your own pain. Josuke's eyes widen at the mention of Erina, and a glimmer of realization crosses his face.

"So, this is some bullshit revenge for something my great-grandmother did? Something she couldn't even control? That doesn't make any sense," Josuke speaks through the pain, his voice edged with confusion, frustration, disbelief.

"Ah, but it does. And it isn't only Erina... someone must pay for the sins of their forefathers. I suffered for the circumstances of my birth, as did my mother and her mother before. Someone ought to pay for the sins of their forefathers,  wouldn't you agree?" You release his face, but the intensity in your eyes remains, and it doesn't falter.

Josuke realizes that beneath the cruelty lies a deep-seated pain, a festering wound that refuses to heal. He's not merely dealing with a pawn of Dio's schemes but another player, a master of a much older and darker game than he realized.

Next |

[thequietmanno1]

TheLreads, Vigilantes ch 119, Replies Part 2

1) “Oh right, the scar in his face. The scar that he did after O'Clock got caught by AfO and had his quirk stolen. Something that happened like, four years before the start of the main series.

…

what the fuck is going on right now”- Furuhashi’s trying to show both a “what if” scenario and demonstrate that what gives AFO power over his pawns is preying on their loneliness and need for others to understand them, thus the greatest counter to that is the empathy of the main characters in understanding that,, no matter how monstrous or insane the villains become, there’s still a human being underneath all of it. 2) “End of flashback I suppose, we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the bombastic revelation that will make me start drinking for real.”- Since it was a metaphor, it was showcasing Koichi’s survival coming to Nomura’s attention, and the fact that he does have somebody to face in the emptiness of his life, symbolised by the empty playground his child self amuses itself with all alone. 3) “Also, are you sure about that Koichi? Because I was pretty sure you were on your last legs like four chapters ago, when you lost a ton of blood and a building collapsed on top of your already broken body.”- Koichi’s limits are whatever Furuhashi needs them to be. At least when Midoiria breaks a limb, he legitimately cannot use it anymore without some outside-the-box thinking and further damage dealt to him long-term. 4) “I would Koichi. I came here to see blood and broken bodies hitting the floor, and by god am I going to get what I want”- I mean, we’ve got Koichi’s blood and Nomura’s burned and broken body all over the place, so I’d say mission accomplished in that case.   5) “I would just say you have a morbid curiosity Koichi, I can’t blame you, considering my current position.”- Curiosity = empathy towards the villains in this case. After all, it’s not that nobody else doesn’t notice their inner sorrow, they just don’t acknowledge it, and conveniently label them whatever they need to to excuse the fact that sometimes the villains are just people in a bad situation with no means of expressing themselves except lashing out. Koichi’s curiosity about why they’re like this is a more subdued form of Izuku’s innate empathy, and his “butting his nose in” to ask them about what’s troubling them is a (rather more ineffectual) means of him trying to diffuse their rampages. 6) “No… those guys seemed like the opposite of wanting help. They used trigger because they wanted to feel powerful and cause chaos, they are not like the people turned into monsters by the Factory.”- Let’s just chalk this up as Koichi wanting to see the innate goodness in everybody, even those who probably don’t deserve it. 7) “Now that’s the state I was waiting to see you in Koichi, but I was expecting that by then you’d realize that you are a hero to, and it’s time to do what heroes do

kill villains 

no wait that’s Hawk’s stuff- erm- make commercials for beauty products?”- Gonna be a bit harder to get Koichi on camera with a tooth knocked out. 8) “And as added symbolism, let’s make Koichi shadow over McBee”- Even with him naturally overshadowing Nomura, Koichi’s shadow and presence blocks out the loneliness that torments him, and in turn prevents AFO from fully controlling and manipulating him like the does later on to Tomura, who Izuku doesn’t recognise as somebody needing to be saved until it’s almost too late, with AFO’s very soul starting to leech off of him by the present day. 9) “Do I need to say how unforgivable it is to make this McBee’s appearance be purely symbolic rather than what he actually looks like? Because it is, and I’ll never forget this, Furuhashi.”- I mean, between the shapeshifting and his mental condition, not even he knows what eh actually looks like now. It may be tragic, but the reason Nomura clings so hard to a fake identity is that he’s truly lost any of his original one, whatever it may have been.

10) “Welp Koichi, you’re still here, but soon you’ll be over there- both physically as well as spiritually. Well, part of you will be over there, the other bits will be all over the place.”- After this point, I’m half-convinced Koichi’s Quirk was holding his body part together like a china figurine stapled together with super-glue – and not an expertly-handled job either. 11) “Oh yeah, you guys are still around here.”- Say what you want about some 1A members, but they all contribute to the fighting in some way, especially the PLF war. These guys are just sorta there, and they didn’t even realise that it’s Koichi fighting the guy at present, nor that they should try and help somehow. 12) “You know, I think you two should’ve switched dolls around, McBee is the one using overwhelming force to crush his enemy, and Koichi is the one zapping around with speed and agility.”- It is an ironical reversal of their respective Idol’s powersets, and whom they’re presently embodying the most in a pitched fight. 13) “I also think it’s hilarious that, in a way, Furuhashi is saying “those are two kids playing pretend in a playground””-Both of them are playing pretend “heroes” with their own values, and even the high-stakes of the fight doesn’t change that at their core, both of them is motivated by the child-like wonder they felt when first seeing their hero in action, which they’re now trying to emulate to the best of their ability.  14) “Yeah that’s definitely Koichi being on his last legs, that’s for sure.

Now the question about AfO not caring about his quirk comes back to haunt me.”- Spoilers. The answer will leave you pretty unsatisfied. 15) “Those were some hell of some visual metaphors, but my god Furuhashi is just throwing stuff and hoping that something sticks, isn’t he?”- You could say he was going for a bit of a Metaphor: Re Fantasio, perhaps? @thelreads

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 50 (Finale!)

Yay, it's over! (lol). I'm sorry, but this ending didn't do much for me. We barely got to see the real world at all and the epilogue amounted to a boring slide show (aside from Koji reuniting with his birth mom, that was sweet). In the end, these characters just didn't feel as fleshed out as those in previous seasons and the digimon connection was lackluster too (it's hard to see the spirits as separate characters). Oh well, I don't mind watching some bland anime now and then...

Notes:

Seriously, compared to previous seasons, this goodbye was so blah. They just get yeeted back to the human world immediately after the final battle and miss their chance to say goodbye to the digimon. Bokomon gets the longest goodbye monologue, but I never liked him so...yeah. (Remember when Adventure gave us sentimental goodbyes between each human-digimon pairing that were indicative of their distinct, defined personalities? Yeah...I miss that).

The spirits showing up and even striking the final blow was...okay I guess. The "bad guy" spirits were just silent and in the background again. There's just no emotional connection because we haven't seen the main spirits as characters before (aside from silently nodding from the digivice from time to time).

Neemon snapping his own pants was a funny gag. The slapstick between Bokomon and Neemon did grow on me. (Funny how Neemon never served a single purpose...)

The Susanoomon thing was weird. In the previous episode Susanoomon was created by combining all 10 spirits but only Takuya and Koji were "inside" him, but in this episode all the kids go "inside." Either way it's still 10 spirits. They should have just made him be a combo of all the kids from the start! So clunky...

Lucemon Satan Mode gave major Millenniumon vibes in his lil grubby form. I'm not sure if "fall down mode" or "Satan mode" is a dumber name.

Seeing the digicode flow out of Lucemon/the digivices and reform the digital world was nice. (Hopefully the moons came back too lol). I wonder if everyone's going to start from zero as a digiegg?

Lol sure, they just let a bunch of kids barge into an emergency room. Hospital security apparently sucks in Japan! I was a little confused what exactly revived Koichi. Was it Koji's love or something from the digivices? Well, either way it was pretty silly.

I don't know why I didn't even think about the human/digital world time difference. I thought when Takuya returned to the human world in that previous episode that everyone would be worried about him, but they have the nice "no time has passed actually" loop hole.

Now that I think about it, it kind of feels like they all had the same arc. The epilogue was all about the kids having learned how to get along better with others (except maybe Tomoki who learned to "not be weak," but even that had to do with how he treats others!) Instead of just seeing them hang out with their one-dimensional families and classmates, I think I would have just preferred an epilogue of them hanging out in the human world and getting pizza or something. Or maybe they could be supporting Junpei at a magic show! (Maybe what I really need is fanfic lol).

Bring back parents!! The kids' parents in Adventure and Tamers were a big presence and it made them feel more like real, relatable people. Here they're mostly just in the background. Also, maybe if I got to know Koji's dad more I wouldn't think he was such a weirdo for lying to his son! >:/ I wanted to hear his side!!

Digimon Frontier was...my least favorite season so far for sure. It's not like it was a total loss, there were some cool digimon designs and I liked the digivolution sequences. The characters were charming enough, but not super memorable. I think this series' shortcomings really highlight what made previous seasons work better. IDK much about how it was received back in the day, but hopefully they learned from these mistakes. Onto the next! (After a brief gaming interlude).

[magpiejay1234]

Have you ever wondered how Digimon Frontier might have gone if the Spirits of Steel, Wood, and Earth had been bequeathed to Ophanimon, the Spirits of Water and Darkness had been bequeathed to Seraphimon, the Spirits of Flame, Light, Ice, Wind, and Thunder had been bequeathed to Cherubimon, and the protagonists had been Katsuharu, Teppei, Chiaki, Teruo, and Koichi (with Koji joining later)? Mind if I send each episode to your inbox so you can say how you think they'd go in that scenario?

Nah, you don't need to send me each episode, I'm not a professional fanfic writer, so I wouldn't bother with a full re-write.

For your specific questions:

**Ofanimon having Steel/Wood/Earth would mean those would get Transcendent Forms, and by proxy Susanoomon would initially be three-part combination.

***Steel would probably be based off Ein Soph like Timelords in 5D's, Wood would probably based off Chinese Wood Dragons in Chinese alchemy, Earth would probably based off Regigigas's origin Oumitsuni, or Surtr to keep Grottomon's lore European.

****This also would mean Junpei would be the third primary member, so I guess we would be closer to Hunters.

****

**Seraphimon having Water, and Darkness would imply Izumi would be Tomoki would be Darkness, so we wouldn't be able to do the Leomon reference. Or Koichi would be part of the team, so the conflict would be with Tomoki, which would be very funny, considering Tomoki is a game genius.

****

**Cherubimon having the spirits of the canon main cast would mean their final forms wouldn't be showcased, except maybe Fire, assuming we give that to the twist antagonist turned protagonist cast member.

***Canonically Spirit Forms don't change except Darkness, so the Forms would be the same, but used for antagonistic purposes. Though I suppose one can be more clever with designs, with Fire being corrupted to look like a Dark Agnimon, similar to Agumon (Black), Chackmon being closer to Hyougamon etc. Frontier era didn't have a lot of Digimon to reference off, so being closer to original era's feeling would be bit difficult.

****

**For the protagonist cast being switched off with the side team, well, the initial change would be that Koichi's demand to find Koji would be in the immediate conflict with the rest of the cast, and taking Koji back would be more difficult since he has no memories of Koichi. So Koji's arc would have been longer.

***In that same manner, if the canon cast became the stranded kids, Katsuharu, and Teppei trying to convince Tomoki would be more difficult than the other way around, since Tomoki is younger, and wouldn't have been forced to take the initiative. So the two episode arc in the canon would probably a 5 episode mini-arc in the Royal Knights episodes.

***In a similar vein, if Koji became the Evil Warrior of Light, you could take the more Knights Templar route with the Warriors of Evil, with a significant amount of the plot being focused on historical pressures Bestial Digimon went through, and Koji sympathising with them.

****This also would probably mean Warriors of Evil would default to Beast Forms rather than Human Forms.

This isn't exactly an idea that would make Frontier better necessarily (most of Frontier's issues are external to the Series), but a rather slight change like this makes the situation more interesting.

[thelreads]

Koichi my lovely boy, you don't need to praise him, he's still holding back for sure, ain't no way this is all that he can get out of this form. Leave the praises for when he actually shows something good

Oh now we're talking! He managed to get a hit in before Koichi could even dodge or defend himself, now we're starting to see some good shit

McBee cast aside his humanity to embrace his animalistic side, and he's gonna kill Koichi using the strategy of the biggest predator that he knows: he's gonna run him over like a Ford F-150 Raptor