#why did toei think this was good idea jesus

[ladyloveandjustice]

i had that last post in drafts so now i'm doing both in a row, but vaguely on that topic it's so funny in the otona precure tag there's also someone crying 'omg puriteens' bc people want the ship between a squirrel who sounds like a seven year old on helium yet is also a sexy adult teacher man and girl in middle school to be sunk. even outside the age gap, i can't imagine getting so protectively mad over the high-pitched voice squirrel blob sexy teacher ship you'd make a post calling out the "puritans" over it im dying.

'you children who don't appreciate him and his epic age gap romance. out here trying to erase it because you can't handle their love. how you could you'

[tenshindon]

if i think about tien fretting over chiaotzu and yamcha’s safety one more time i think i might explode so For Once i’m writing out my thoughts in the main part of the post :)))) under the cut of course :))))))

We all know that Tien’s concerned over Chiaotzu’s well-being all the time, like that’s a defining part of their relationship. Even when they’re already dead Tien’s still horrified at the prospect of Chiaotzu dying during their spar with Piccolo. However it isn’t until Resurrection F that we’re given a notice that Tien’s concerned over Yamcha as well. Whether this was a development exclusive to Super or it’s just been a background thing that’s only now manifesting in the subtlest of ways, we will never know <3 Either that or my memory of Everything Ever is very hazy <3 however I will talk about it anyways because my brain is decaying as we speak because holy shit 

Like through Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, we repeatedly see Yamcha extending his heart out to Tien: Yamcha repeatedly pleading with Tien to reconsider learning the mafuba, Yamcha granting Tien reassurance before he goes off to fight Tao and subsequently understanding Tien needs time alone after the fight, Yamcha wishing to stay with Tien and Chiaotzu in the afterlife, and so on. From these instances alone, we know that Yamcha is certainly more open about his affection and care towards his friends (which is a whole post I can make on its own, Yamcha’s incredibly emotionally intelligent and it’s so good).

However this type of care isn’t exactly reciprocated towards Yamcha- or not as obviously, anyways. Which isn’t all too surprising; pardon Chiaotzu and especially by Z, Tien’s very reserved and generally just keeps to himself and Chiaotzu. 

However, as aforementioned, Tien remarks that he left Yamcha and Chiaotzu behind away from the fight. It’s a rather innocuous line when you think of it: on the surface, Tien’s just clarifying- well, he just left Yamcha and Chiaotzu behind because he feels it’s too dangerous for them. But then you have to ask the question: since when did Tien have authority over what Yamcha did? And why was Yamcha so willing to listen? Was Yamcha just not clued in on what was happening and Tien figured he wouldn’t tell him? 

Chiaotzu is understandable; despite Chiaotzu being just five years younger than Tien and thus being in his early 40′s by Super, Tien still treats him like a younger brother and as his guardian. So when he so casually adds Yamcha to this- to just so naturally say “I left Chiaotzu and Yamcha behind. The danger seems too much for them,” it just really makes you think a bit. Because Tien made a conscious decision to leave Yamcha behind for his well-being.

In this instance Tien is putting Yamcha on the same- or at least similar level as Chiaotzu, someone we’re all very well aware that he would literally kill someone for, even if that someone is himself. The meta explanation for this could very well just be Toei didn’t want to bother giving Yamcha and Chiaotzu anything to do during the movie, and since they were already perceived as the weakest among the cast it was much easier to leave them out of it entirely (though that’s a rant for another day). The issue that arises however is that Toei accidentally (or maybe intentionally) adds a layer to Tien and Yamcha’s relationship, or at least shows us that Tien does care about Yamcha’s safety and shows some type of growth to Tien. As I talked about before, Tien is reserved and doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve- so for an action like this to occur on his part, it demonstrates a great leap in his development as a person and opening up.

And the thing about this is that it’s not entirely out of Tien’s character to leave people behind to protect them- it’s completely in character, in a way. During the Saiyan Saga, Tien initially attempts to dissuade Chiaotzu from attending the Saiyan fight, forming a similar excuse as that it would be too dangerous for him. With an instance like this, it shows us that if Tien isn’t confident he can protect Chiaotzu on the battlefield, the most he can do is make sure he’s at home and assuredly safe. He does this again during the Cell Saga by leaving Chiaotzu at Roshi’s abode, once again asserting that it would be too dangerous for Chiaotzu.

During Z Tien doesn’t show this type of concern towards Yamcha, which isn’t wrong or even irrational. Amidst Z, Yamcha was more than capable of taking care of himself and looking after his own back; Tien didn’t reason it would make sense for him to look after him. Not only that, but Tien and Chiaotzu’s relationship is just seemingly more natural to him: he’s known Chiaotzu since he was a child, it makes sense for his care to be more open and at the ready. Tien knows Chiaotzu and his boundaries, and vice versa.

The important thing about Tien though, as I already mentioned right- he’s reserved. Coupled with the fact he was raised by Shen and Tao of all people, it’s probably hard for him to make deep connections with people, let alone traditionally express care. That’s why Chiaotzu is such an anchor for him: he’s really all he has at the end of the day, if not himself. And he’s already demonstrated he’d rather die than live without his brother.

Shifting to Yamcha, it’s... a topic that really should be touched on more. When Yamcha dies during the Saiyan Saga, the anime offers a particular reaction shot on Tien. It’s not much all things considered, but it does allow the viewer to be able to identify that Yamcha’s death had somewhat of a significant impact on Tien specifically, as he’s the only one with an isolated reaction shot (which is especially telling considering Krillin was friends with Yamcha longer and logically would be more devastated and more deserving of a singular shot. He gets this, however by actually checking on Yamcha’s body but I could touch on that whole topic another time). Later on in the Cell saga, Tien is subjected to watching Yamcha die (or be on the precipice of dying) again via Dr. Gero; Tien is the first of the Z Fighters to show up to the scene, thus giving us another Tien-specific reaction shot.

Obviously, Tien’s reactions to Yamcha and Chiaotzu differ severely; we’ve already gone over why Chiaotzu has a greater bond to Tien, and despite the friendship Yamcha and Tien have been able to build over the years it would be near impossible for Yamcha to ever be totally on the same level as Chiaotzu. But at the very least and looking at the Resurrection F dialogue, Yamcha’s deadly experiences have had a lasting impact on Tien.

It wouldn’t be improbable to assume Tien suffered from guilt from Chiaotzu dying during the Saiyan Saga- he even warned Chiaotzu about coming along, so being helpless to protect his brother as he watched him be bashed before he ultimately kills himself could have been certainly traumatizing. Chiaotzu’s death in the Saiyan Saga, in my opinion, is more devastating than his King Piccolo death.

Against King Piccolo Chiaotzu was killed swiftly, and he was at least able to leave a body behind. Of course, there definitely comes feelings of guilt at the fact Tien was the one who instructed Chiaotzu to get into danger in the first place- which is probably why he’s more open to the idea of letting Chiaotzu sit a fight out in the future. During the Saiyan Saga, Chiaotzu is thrashed over and over again and rammed against mountains while Tien is found in a similar position of being physically incapable of protecting him. The whole display definitely lasts much longer than the King Piccolo incident, and it’s far more agonizing as Chiaotzu telepathically communicates with Tien during this. All for it to culminate in Chiaotzu uselessly sacrificing himself, Tien even hallucinating Chiaotzu amidst delirium.

Tien best shows his care through action and protecting those he loves- he’s just incapable of verbally saying he cares and thus best does it through service. For Tien to implicitly order Yamcha to stay away from the fight with Chiaotzu, it shows us that he harbors similar feelings of fear, guilt, and care that he does towards Chiaotzu towards Yamcha as well. Tien does his best to keep Chiaotzu away from fights because he’s afraid of losing him again because he wasn’t strong enough to protect him- it’s a fair-enough bet to wager this fear extends towards losing Yamcha as well.

Which not only makes Tien’s underwhelming reaction to Earth blowing up so fuckinnnn aggravating like oh my god like fucking he actually kept his loved ones behind and they still died can you imagine the fuckin turmoil and angst jesus christ im going insane Also this is why I needed a fucking scene of these three knuckleheads talking about chiaotzu and yamcha staying behind like toei im begging you throw me a bone LMAOOOO

[ffamranxii]

Sailor Stars thoughts:

1. The anime does its absolute best to make the Starlights unlikable. Taiki is a fucking asshole (he won’t even give a dying girl, who he explicitly was taken to visit, an autograph, and tells a bunch of children that their grandfather’s theory about souls becoming stars is dead wrong), Seiya is a Nice Guy who hits on Usagi constantly despite being told multiple times she has a boyfriend, and Yaten is a mildly sarcastic cardboard cutout. I know the manga doesn’t expand on them much but the anime is supposed to help make these people real. Counterexample is Chibi-Chibi, who hardly speaks in the manga and relies on her cuteness alone to be likable. They gave her a very cute voice because it was literally all they had to work with, given how often Chibi-Chibi actually appears

2. The dub cast for the Starlights is frankly awful. As civilians, Taiki alternates between a woman trying too hard to make her voice deep and having a bad cold, Seiya sounds like a prepubescent boy, and Yaten sounds like a woman (which they’re not, as civilians); as Starlights their voices are VERY high pitched, especially Yaten’s. Their sub voices just sound like woman talking a bit deeply and then normal women.

3. Why the FUCK did Toei think literally changing sex was less controversial than crossdressing? The Starlights are women and have always been women. Plus, them being male civilians in the anime creates a paradox, because if they’re men with sailor crystals who can become senshi, why can’t Mamoru - who is confirmed multiple times throughout the series as carrying the earth’s star seed and thus being Sailor Earth - do the same? Naoko said Mamoru can’t be a sailor senshi because he’s a man, but the Starlights don’t abide by this rule, they change their fucking biological sex

4. Why is absolutely no one concerned that Chibi-Chibi, a THREE YEAR OLD, just goes off on her own and has her own little adventures? She wanders into some strange old man’s house and they’re all “oh that’s just Chibi-Chibi,” and no one is worried that a literal stranger invites a three year old into his house where he gives her toys and candy? The 90s were WILD, man

5. Why does Chibi-Chibi, again who is THREE YEARS OLD, have a thigh gap?

6. This one’s on Naoko because it’s like this in the manga, but the anime is supposed to expand on the universe so I blame them too: Why does literally nobody question Chibi-Chibi’s motives? Some strange pink haired child who fucking falls out of the sky one day up and brainwashes Usagi’s mom into thinking she’s her second daughter, and nobody bats an eye at this? That’s sus as fuck and literally the only question anyone has is “is she your kid or Chibiusa’s?” She doesn’t even have a NAME, “chibi” is just a random word she says!

7. I am DIGGING the mobster feel of the Animamates’ civilian forms. Especially Iron Mouse and Tin Nyanko, who clearly launder money through a shady car dealership.

8. The Starlights’ only redeeming qualities are their snazzy entrance music and Seiya’s red suit

9. Why is Aluminum Siren the only Animamate who understands that a senshi has a pure star seeds? Like, y’all killed the senshi of your home planets to take their star seeds so YOU could be senshi (which is presumably why Galaxia wants more seeds, to make more Animamates with them), shouldn’t you know that?

10. Aluminum Siren/Lead Crow are trying their damn hardest to give Harumichi a run for their money in the quest to become the Best Space Lesbians.

11. So the Moon Kingdom fosters loyalty through child soldiers. I’m assuming Queen Serenity has her own senshi in the form of our senshi’s mothers, etc. (Which begs the question of if the Asteroid Senshi are supposed to be the future kids of our senshi or if they too are child soldiers from the asteroids they’re named after.) Kinmoku seems to foster loyalty by having the Kakyuu’s senshi fall in unrequited love with her. (In the manga it’s stated Kakyuu has a husband who died when their planet was destroyed.) I mean, whatever works, right?

12. I LOVE Tin Nyanko’s dub voice. She’s only around Usagi’s age and she sounds it

13. The dub actress for Lead Crow seems like she’s half assing it. Her voice doesn’t raise properly when she yells, she never sounds really angry, and it’s just so odd. I find a lot of dub voices do this, while the original Japanese VAs will scream their lungs out into the mic

14. On the reverse, Galaxia’s voice actress is a badass. She’s supposed to have a deep menacing voice but I like the one they gave her in the dub. She’s quiet, and sounds almost kind, and that’s a fucking TERRIFYING sort of villain we don’t see a lot of. Even when she’s pissed she doesn’t raise her voice.

15. Why are Lead Crow and Tim Nyanko the same height? Lead Crow is like 5’10 and Tin Nyanko is 4’11 like Sailor Moon

16. As an aside, Tin Nyanko and Lead Crow don’t like each other, which reminds me of the cats vs crows trash can showdown in Haikyuu lol

17. Haruka’s hate boner for Seiya gives me life

18. FINALLY someone calls the Starlights out on being assholes but it’s only after Makoto sees them harassing a THREE YEAR OLD (Chibi-Chibi). Literally everyone BUT Usagi thinks they’re assholes. “They sing such beautiful songs!” Bro. You can sing pretty and still be a fucking dick.

19. Lead Crow goes after Sailor Moon only after reading Siren’s notebook. Ditzy SIREN is the smartest Animamate, lord help them

20. Kakyuu’s dub voice is SO GOOD. She’s my favorite minor character, I’m still bitter they didn’t show Sailor Kakyuu

21. Seiya’s crush on Usagi was so awkwardly shoehorned in. I hate it. Jesus fucking Christ Usagi is sobbing in the goddamn rain about how much she misses Mamoru and Seiya is STILL coming onto her.

22. It is literally so fucking funny to me that Mamoru spends all of Stars fucking dead. He’s just a perpetual damsel in distress.

23. Rei literally lectures Usagi about leading Seiya on and how “you need to do the right thing and tell him you already have someone,” AS IF USAGI HASN’T BEEN DOING THAT AT EVERY AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITY. THE FIRST TIME THEY MET SHE SAID SHE HAD A BOYFRIEND, SHE’S TOLD SEIYA OVER AND OVER THAT SHE ISN’T INTERESTED IN HIM, THAT SHE’S GOT A BOYFRIEND, THAT SHE LOVES HER BOYFRIEND. The fucking MISOGYNY here, like it’s Usagi leading Seiya on instead of Seiya being a fucking Nice Guy who can’t take no for a goddamn answer. Shut the fuck up, Rei.

24. Pretty sure under Kakyuu’s headdress is a pair of odango

25. The fact that Iron Mouse and Aluminum Siren both die when their bracelets are removed yet Tin Nyanko doesn’t implies that Tin Nyanko was the original Sailor Mau. Mouse and Siren dying implies that forcing senshi powers on a civilian is dangerous and that Galaxia’s bracelets are the only thing keeping them alive (albeit brainwashed). Yet Tin Nyanko seems to revert to “good” when one of her bracelets is destroyed. Galaxia has to intervene and kill her personally. Tin Nyanko may have offered her senshi powers to spare Mau (this applies only in the anime; in the manga she’s explicitly said to have killed Sailor Mau)

26. Oooh Galaxia’s angry voice is so commanding and sexy

27. Don’t gimme that “we love Usagi but we love you Starlights just as much.” No you fucking don’t. The whole death scene in the anime is just so... ugh. Bad.

28. The Outers fighting Galaxia is hilarious. They’re supposed to be stronger than the Inners yet Galaxia never even has to get out of her chair to kick their asses. The writers were trying real hard to make us fear the worst and back the senshi into a corner but literally they’ve made this an impossible battle to win that only becomes winnable due to plot armor.

29. Rewatching Stars and classic after Eternal and Crystal makes me miss the battle damage the fuku took. The new series always has them looking pristine, but in classic they actually get roughed up and battle scarred. It makes it more real.

30. Aww how come Uranus and Neptune got to keep their names when they joined Galaxia? I wanna know what whack ass Animamate name they would’ve gotten. (Also Galaxia literally just sent them out like Pokémon, wtf)

31. I feel like Saturn dying shouldn’t be possible since she’s literally a senshi of death but... whatever, go off I guess.

32. So.... Uranus and Neptune joining Galaxia to try and take her star seed is a cool idea that absolutely did not happen in the manga, and needed more than half an episode of development. Would’ve been a cool plot if it wasn’t so rushed.

33. So much of this season was rushed so they could tie the series up at a beat 200 episodes. If they really didn’t want to go over 200, they should’ve cut the Nehelennia arc (which isn’t in the manga anyway) and and focused on developing the Animamates, this sweet Harumichi betrayal plot, and explaining Chibi-Chibi??? Her existence makes no sense without Sailor Cosmos, and they just... didn’t include her??? Wtf

[narashikari]

Watched Build Final Live during a slow day of work...

So no screenshots, but thoughts, emotions and feeeeels:

• Seriously why the eff is Evolt so effing hard to kill

• I hate him so much guys. Like. So much

• Lost Bottle quest again... though this time it’s just defeating the resurrected Lost Smash without the emotional trauma of the one in the show

• Most morbid audience participation ever... thanks Toei for making all of us dead

• Most morbid (again) Rider comeback ever: They’re There Because They’re Dead!

• Kazumin heard Misora call him Kazumin... and he was so happy... it would’ve sweet if he wasn’t so creepy about it

• Kazumin’s entire monologue I cannot... thank you Kouhei Takeda for somehow managing to record that without completely ruining it

• Misora’s still tsun tsun for Kazumin even after all that though which is even more hilarious

• YES CROSS Z CHARGE IS BACK!! (I like ok #dontjudge)

• Robo Utsumi... Pfffft

• UTSUMIN... OH MY GOD HE IS ADORKABLE.... RYUUGA DON’T LEAVE THE DORK BEHIND~

• Oh they subbed the lyrics to the insert songs too... Nice nice. It’s already rare to get subs for live shows but they went the extra mile for this too

• The banter between the Riders loool

• Utsumin still being ok with dying for Nanba is disturbing but he’s kinda still kinda crazy at this point I guess so ok

• The theory that Sento will cease to exist when the new world is created... everyone is just accepting it numbly except Ryuuga who is sulking and clearly refusing to even think of it

• Sento saying “us Riders” and including Utsumi... so pure...

• FINAL FORMS GALORE. MadRogue+ Prime Rogue+ Grease Blizzard+ Cross-Z Magma+ Build Genius

• HOW DARE YOU. HOW DARE YOU MOCK THE BEAUTY OF BUILD GENIUS. FUCK YOU TO HELL EVOLT

• (I was almost screaming at the screen while watching at work, no joke... my boss who sits across from me is 🤨❓)

• The obligatory audience cheer of “Ganbare!!” lead by Sawa and Misora...

• Cross-ZBuild! Be the One! Yeeeeeeah! Aka the “wedding” that this time everyone gets to attend

• Be the One’s second verse is being played?! Le gasp!!

• “Sento and I are the Best Match!” PARASOLS... THE PARASOLS... “LOVE AND PEACE FINISH!!”

• THE RYUSEN IS SO STRONG IN THIS ONE...

• Everyone’s goodbyes to Sento as they leave for the new world...

• Utsumin saying his new humanity is one of Sento’s miracles and promising to invent something just as great as Sento’s inventions

• Gentoku managing to somehow be sincere with a goofy T-shirt print... (“39” ➡️ “san-kyu” ➡️ “thank you”) d’aaaaaaaw

• Sawa’s “Thank you for giving me a family”... damnit watching this at the office was not a good idea

• Kazumin... saying he became a true Kamen Rider because of Sento... KAZUMI!!!! Also I truly wonder if that side poke was an adlib on Kouhei’s part to mess with Acchan

• Misora’s “I will never forget about Kiryuu Sento...” Then remember the finale where she says “Have we met before?” DAMN YOU SHOGO MUTO

• (I mean she does remember by Build New World and HeiGen Forever BUT STILL)

• Sento being an awkward bun with the girls... so adorable, yet so sad... (also Acchan seriously needs to eat more, his arms are so thin)

• Be the One instrumental playing over the farewells... growing quieter and quieter as they leave... until it’s just Sento and Ryuuga left on stage with complete silence

• Ryuuga’s whole speech to Sento. Calling him out on his BS. Screw destiny. “I will find you again, no matter what.” Whoever says Banjou Ryuuga is not a romantic needs to have this scene played over and over to them till their eyes bleed

• Let me emphasize: The stuff of legends. A love story for the centuries. The Once Upon A Time reference/parasol killed me, resurrected me, and ascended me into OTP heaven. HEATED DRAMA BETWEEN MEN...

• “To me, the law of victory was to have met everyone.” Why does it feel like it was Acchan saying that to us all?

• ACCHAN!!!! I LOVE YOU NOW AND FOREVER

• Then Ryuuga’s door doesn’t open looool.

• A “recreation” of the final scene... honestly I don’t think it was an impactful as then because we already saw it and was expecting it... though the end bit is pretty funny

• Ryuuga. Don’t talk about peeing while on stage.

• Wait... if Ryuuga co-created the universe with Sento... should we call him Dragon Jesus now?

• Does this mean he and Sento are consorts like many creation gods (Izanami and Izanagi, Gaia and Ouranous, Kouta and Mai, etc)?

• Btw I hope GemnCorp also subs the talk show. I think we’ll get a lot of gems out of that one (see what I did there)

• I kinda wish we got the cast saying goodbye to each other and not just to Sento....

• Like... Kazumin admitting that it was because of them he regretted dying... or Utsumi and Sawa saying goodbye as “siblings”...

[sailor-cresselia]

Zi-O episodes 31 & 32 - AGITO TIME

Okay, I want to know how long this actually takes me this time around, so… I’m starting playback at about a quarter past midnight. (I got distracted earlier, when I told myself I was going to start. I’m not good at timekeeping.)

((also, as I mentioned in the previous liveblog, if you comment on any of the sections in here, I’d really appreciate it if you specify which statements you’re talking about. These recaps get really long, so… y’know, it’ll make it a little easier for a conversation.))

~cut goes here~

Bullet casings? In MY Kamen Rider? It’s more likely than you think!

(I haven’t seen Agito, but as with Ryuki and Blade, I’ve seen the History Of’s that Marcosatsu did. So, I… should be okay? Ish.)

But why do they want G3 units nationwide? Are they finally sick of all the yearly monster attacks, and doing something about it? … Okay, yeah, I don’t believe it either, but hey, we can speculate!

Ouch, rest in piece G3 user number 2. He got thrown so hard he’s stuck in the viewing window.

Another!Another Agito’s got some muscle on him.

aaaand this is the tribute arc where the Another Rider name scheme is going to be incredibly problematic, like people worried.

I get that there are six watches left to acquire – notably including Drive, since the one they currently have was brought back by Geiz. But would it have killed Toei to let the W and Kuuga watches be in-show? Would it? They had to make them appear in the movie? Specifically, the movie that the producer has said is only psuedo-canon?! 

Six left, and Sougo doesn’t want them to become Oma Zi-O. He wants them so he can stop Oma Zi-O, so that he can match his power. But, you know, the team kind of lucked into finding them, what with the Another Riders being created… or… hm. They get the Ride Watches because of the Another Riders. The Time Jackers are the ones creating the Another Riders, and they’re from the future, and know full well how Zi-O acquires his watches. The thing is, they initially said it was to ‘find a new candidate for king.’ We know that that’s not nearly so true as Heure and Hora were led to believe, since Swartz already had his candidate chosen. And we were led to believe that said candidate was Hiryuu, Another Zi-O. Except! “I’ll see you on the Day of Oma” wasn’t… exactly said to Hiryuu, was it? And then, we saw that an earlier version of Swartz was responsible for the bus crash, as he was looking for A Boy Who Would Be King. He found Sougo.

Sougo has been his choice all along. 

(un-Pause to hear Woz talk!)

“No, no, we just need to continue as we’ve been doing. The watches will show up.” … Well, you’re not wrong.

Junichiro rushes in, asking if they were watching. And, I mean, I don’t know Japanese, but I am pretty sure that under normal circumstances, people don’t usually use the English verb ‘to watch’ when referring to a news broadcast.

Come on, man, you just won me over in the last few arcs, don’t blow this.

Wait, the public knows about the G3 units?! Were they common knowledge in Agito? Or, at least, publicly available knowledge?

HAHAHA I didn’t even NOTICE that Woz hadn’t done his Recap yet! Oh man, I’m slipping! But no, now he does it, by Pausing the show, and incidentally casting everyone else in the room in shadow. … Wait, has he been actually doing that the entire time? Just? Pausing time for a moment to talk at us? I mean, I wouldn’t put it past him, the drama hog that he is. Also, where did you get the confetti, sir? And is that going to be in the actual room when time resumes?

Meanwhile, in… France, I think. “I must go. My planet city needs me.”

It takes four minutes into the episode to reach the Opening. It took me almost 20 to reach that.

Also, the shot of Zi-O II has been replaced by Trinity. I like how the pose they chose is basically a combination of all three of their styles. As a small note, it flashes over the faces in the order of Zi-O, Geiz, and Woz, before moving into a full-body shot. Also, I can’t remember if this change had been made last episode or not, but there’s no sign of the Future Note in the Kamen Rider Woz segment anymore. (I think it would have been a nice touch to have the Twilight Chronicle replace it in the background, but oh well.)

… and I just remembered that with Agito’s lore, that ‘my planet needs me’ quote isn’t nearly as out of left field as I intended when I made it a few minutes ago.

Okay, I know that we have the incredibly ominous “We really don’t know what Swartz is up to” discussion with Heure and Hora, and him interrupting as he is prone to do, and him being all “No, I’ve already got a plan going, as I am prone to do.” But what I’m stuck on is just how many sugar cubes he’s adding to his… well, I don’t know if it’s tea or coffee, but it’s far too many.

(Swartz has just joined Haruto and Kiriya in the ‘that can no longer be called coffee’ club.)

Damnit, Geiz, I wanted to make a crack about how ‘it’s less that the police are tracking the target, and more that the target is tracking the police’! It does make sense that this particular division would be fighting Another Riders, though, especially since they look even more like MOTWs than Kino did. Zi-O!Another Agito kind of has a toothy grin, too. I remember being weirded out by Kino!Another Agito’s design when I watched Gorider, but this is just. Eesh. Creepy.

Ohhh dear. If Tsukuyomi’s an amnesiac, that would explain her lack of last name. And since this is a time travel show, we’re all screwed! She could have been anyone! ...That sequence in the opening, with Tsukuyomi and the Time Jackers on the stairs, before they disappear and she’s alone is feeling really ominous right about now.

And this is a good arc for this reveal – since Agito’s Shoichi was an amnesiac protagonist. … hang on, wasn’t there a sibling confusion then, too, like in W? With… Philip… oh dear.

I have avoided shipping in this season at all costs, for precisely this type of reason. And because it’s time travel, to avoid whatever it was that happened in Den-O. (I haven’t seen past the first two episodes of Den-O. I’m working on it!)

OKAY! That aside! I’ve noticed that even though Tsukuyomi has the tablet, and pulls up all sorts of information on it, Geiz is usually the one to bring up who the past Riders were. He knew about Wizard, I’m dead certain there were other instances that I can’t recall off the top of my head, and he knows who the G3 unit is.

Okay, I love that we finally have officials trying to keep untransformed riders out of the battle field. It’s about time, and not just for Zi-O, it’s been lacking in the genre as a whole. I also like that the people in G3 armor don’t seem to trust the three Riders.

HEY! HOLD UP! SOUGO HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE OMEGA SYMBOL IS?! I thought you were terrible at math and science! Those are pretty much the only place you’d see that, these days – wait. Sougo’s a history buff; or, at least, that’s his only good subject. Or, was his only good subject, because he’s graduated. (Good for him!!!) Omega is Greek, maybe he actually could have picked it up in a history class!

Also, is this confirmation that Agito is supposed to be written using omega, like it its logo?

Mind you, it’s not as though anyone is going to be actually doing that, but still.

JESUS FUCK WHAT THE HELL DID FAKE!ANOTHER AGITO JUST DO? He tore off the chest armor, and ugghgh that sounded like he was trying to eat the poor man, but now said man is getting up, what the hell-

AAAAAGHAAAAGH! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!

Agito powers as zombie plague.

Kino was Another Agito because Agito is more of a powerset than a name.

It is now 1:10. I am ten minutes into ep 31.

This explains the excessively toothy mouth, at least.

Tsukuyomi used a Time Stop. With the same effects and sounds as the Time Jackers. And it was super targeted, too – it only hit the Another Agito that was attacking her and the officer. She didn’t know she could do that. Woz didn’t know she could do that.

It looks like Swartz didn’t know she could do that.

It looks like the time stop is an innate power.

Okay, okay, back to 9-to-5.

So, yeah, everyone thinks the Another Agitos are really weird. Sougo wants to try and find Kamen Rider Agito. Absolutely nobody is surprised that he has no idea how to follow through on that idea. “What if we try the internet?” Sougo, he was active in 2001, internet archives are terrible for going back to 2011, to say nothing of – Sougo.

Sougo. Kid. Why do you know how to get auto-correct to make the omega symbol? Did you actually learn that for a history class? I mean, good catch on the spelling of the name, and it worked, so. Points? I guess?

Okay, why is Woz’s voice echoing so much today?! I thought the first time I noticed it was because they were outside, but it’s happening inside, too. What gives?

Heure, no. No ‘proving you’re still useful’ to Swartz. Get OUT of there! Just go! It’s not safe for you! You just keep raising death flags!

But what Swartz is most interested in right now… is testing Tsukuyomi’s new power.

Sougo immediately asks if Kamen Rider Agito is in. Like the blunt little fool he is. His second try isn’t much better. Being Geiz is suffering.

But when the woman – Mana, right? When Mana recognizes the name Agito as a person, Geiz takes notice. Remember, boys, everyone else still remembers now, too.

Haha, see, Shoichi has the right reaction to the ‘he wants to be a king’ speech! Dumbfounded shock.

GEIZ! Why are you suggesting heading ‘overseas’ with the Time Mazine to find Shoichi? That’s! That’s Sougo logic! Noooo don’t let that be what rubs off on you!

Case in point, Sougo thinks it’s a good idea!

UGH Both Swartz AND Woz have had that stupid echo all episode, it’s driving me up a wall. It makes it feel like the audio’s balance is off or something.

So, creeper mc-purple-coat wants to… ‘test out’ Tsukuyomi’s power. Fair. She says that it’s none of his business, and that she doesn’t have any power, which is also fair. But I’d say that siccing one of the Another Agitos on her is overkill. And terrifying.

...wait, could Shoichi tell when enemies were appearing in his season? I legitimately don’t know.

(16 minutes in and 1 hour fifteen minutes later)

Okay, so, your choices here, boys.

Zi-O II. Good call, powerful, can read movements ahead of time.

Quiz. VERY good call. His powerset ‘asks’ the opponent to answer questions, or get electrocuted. Normally, I’m decidedly not okay with that, but from a tactical point, right now it makes sense. The rampaging Another Agitos are like, well, they’re Fast Zombies. They can’t answer questions.

BUT STOP USING REVIVE. I get why Typhoon is a good choice tactically. Like I said, FAST Zombies. Being even faster is a good survival strategy. But using REVIVE is a very BAD survival strategy.

Kudos for the touch of Sougo telling the cops to help their wounded – which they notably weren’t doing before he said that.

HI SPEAKING OF BAD CALLS! IN THIS CASE TRINITY IS A BAD IDEA!

Like Geiz says, you need NUMBERS.

Running Decade and Ex-aid would be a better choice right about now! That would give you two Zi-Os! ...and if Geiz gets Ghost, he can summon some of the parka ghosts to help, because they let THAT be a thing for the Ghost watch!

WOZ NO. You don’t need to IWAE this! This is now a no REJOICE zone! Go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

Although, now the cops are evacuating the heck out of there while Woz distracts the Agitos with his absurdity.

Unfortunately, he’s also distracting Sougo and Geiz with said absurdity.

Quick! Back to sanity! Tsukuyomi! We need you to be the impulse control for all three of the boys now! I’m so sorry, we kept Woz contained as long as possible, but this much proximity to Sougo at one clip has spread the cloud cuckoo lander traits.

“Oh, you don’t remember anything? Well, you’re probably better off not knowing, I suppose.” (F you too, Swartz.)

“Do… you know something?”

~The sound of a Legend Rider’s belt approaches from the shadows~

Kamen Rider Agito is on the scene.

And Swartz is smiling at that.

THAT! Is NOT how Bike Fu works!

OH LORDY the Power Knuckle buzzsaw and the spear’s… well, spear projections can combine into a massive, even pointier circular saw blade! Trinity really IS a fusion form, isn’t it?

“...wait, where’d the others go?”

It was! A distraction! And a very good one!

It is now 1:50. I’ve been at this for… one hour, 35 minutes. I’ve watched one episode.

Oh boy.

…

Time for ep 32!

Yooooo! Okay! So! Heure and Hora are stepping in because Swartz was ‘dragging his feet’, they weren’t invited, because he’s an ass. But Heure! Just! Pulled the Another Watch out of one of the transformed Agitos – not the main one, mind you, he’s ticked off now – and! He! Pushed it to Rider Agito, drained his power, and turned! The Another Watch! Into a real Ride Watch!

!!!!

Tsukuyomi stopped time to save Shoichi from Another!Another Agito… which is great! Good work! Except that it’s SUPER POWERFUL. She can move, but everyone else is completely frozen. COMPLETELY. ...Everyone but Swartz, who’s eyes are moving.

(click) AS IT IS WRITTEN HERE!

(GDI Woz)

(and with a SPOTLIGHT, too!)

(Theatre kid Woz confirmed)

Woz, you’re incredibly proud of Sougo for graduating, aren’t you? You mentioned that last Recap, too!

(insert 20 minute gap to take care of the dishes here, resuming at 2:20)

Huh! The title card came in from the opposite side of the screen this time! Interesting!

Heure, you can’t just put a regular Ride Watch into an Another Rider, That can’t be good for the poor host. And, oh, no, look at that, he’s just turned into a duplicate of Kamen Rider Agito. An exact duplicate. Appearance-wise, anyway.

WELP.

Okay, I rag on him, but Junichiro’s reaction to Professional Chef Shoichi complementing his cooking is great.

And then right back to serious, as soon as he leaves the room.

“I’m sorry… they took my Rider powers from me.”

“Which is really weird, since those are literally part of me. Trust me, things were weird in the early ‘00’s, kid. A whole bunch of us wound up being not entirely human.”

Hora? Hang on, can you clarify that? “Does that mean she’s a Time Jacker too?”

Are. Are you saying that being a ‘Time Jacker’ isn’t a group affiliation? That it’s the name of a powerset?!

… Just like how ‘Agito’ is?

Okay, so the current active party layout is:

Team One: Sougo and Geiz, dealing with a swarm of Another Agitos, while Heure and Another Agito Prime watch.

‘Team’ Two: Woz confronting Swartz about Tsukuyomi’s powers. Apparently Swartz is ‘the only one’ who can grant powers over time, which implies that he gave them to Heure and Hora. But he didn’t give them to Tsukuyomi, and he implies himself that the two of them are ‘cut from the same cloth’. Woz knows what that means.

Team Three: Shoichi goes to talk to Tsukuyomi. He’s the resident voice of experience on finding out you’re not who you thought you were, after all.

Well, him, Philip, and Sento, but the other two aren’t exactly here at the moment.

So, yes, as I thought he’d do, after bringing Tsukuyomi to the restaurant, he tells her about his past. About how Shoichi Tsugami isn’t technically his name. About how he tried to live his life the best he could, after losing who he was, and finding out he had powers. It worked out for him. And after all, hasn’t she already been doing that? The power is just a little more than she knew about.

And right after he says “Haven’t you already been doing that”, guess what starts playing?

The instrumental version of ‘King of Time.’

...Huh. It’s more noticeable with Geiz, who’s usually either frowning or exasperated. But… we never see Tsukuyomi smile, either, do we?

And then, with Sougo…

“I’m fighting to make the world better, and that’s what you’re doing too, right? So, does it really matter who you used to be?”

She responds with a smile. It’s a good look for her.

And of course, Woz shows up with bad news.

“So, fighting Agito’s a BAD idea, because once there’s one Agito, there can be countless Another Agitos. We are going to be overwhelmed. This is literally straight from Swartz. We’re screwed.”

“You better not be playing double agent agai-”

“Well, I mean, I already saw that was going to happen, so…. Besides, we don’t really have a choice in the matter, since we need to get that watch.”

““...fine...””

((It’s about 2:50 now, so I’m at… a little over two hours.))

Stop! Using! Revive! Unless you guys worked out how to keep it’s time compression from literally killing you a little more with each use, you! Need! To! Not! Use! That!

Unfortunately, Fury and Kikai make perfect sense here – the brute strength should help keep you two from getting too injured.

AAAND then they go for Typhoon and Shinobi for a speed-off. BOYS! Stop it! Although, I will admit, the flight and teleport spamming is pretty cool when you’re not using it on each other.

AHAHAH! Shoichi’s playing distraction in a G3 suit! That makes a LOT of sense! He can’t fight in his usual manner right now – on account of his powers being otherwise occupied. But the G3 suits were meant for humans to fight monsters on a more level playing field. AND the Another Agitos had been going after police facilities… which they haven’t mentioned again, but it sure seems to be drawing attention to him.

Tsukuyomi’s already got really good control, hasn’t she? The first time, she froze only the one Another Agito, and nothing else in the area. The second, she panicked, and was able to stop literally everything. Well, again, Swartz was slightly moving. Slightly. This time, it’s four Another Agitos, but Shoichi, who was right in the middle of them, is unaffected.

One direct hit from Zi-O II was able to knock the Ride Watch out of Another Agito Prime, and it rolled right to it’s proper owner. And for the first time, we get to see a Rider regaining their powers – the Ride Watch fades from existence, and Shoichi’s belt reappears on his waist.

“Transform!”

And then a (largely reluctant) transformation into Trinity. Geiz has had it up to here with Woz’s Announcements. You don’t have to do them every time, you know. You used to only make those when a new power was achieved. You guys have done this twice already.

(Tsukuyomi is in hell. That’s the only explanation she can think of.)

I like that ripple effect they used for Agito’s own Trinity transformation. I don’t know what sort of effects they used in 2001/2002, but it’s nice to see a nod to older FX in this incredibly flashy show.

(Tsukuyomi is definitely in hell. That’s the only explanation she can think of.)

Woz just has to do a proclamation. I don’t think it’s even part of his contract, I think he’s just THAT into this sort of thing. He was BORN to be a herald. Problem for HIM is, even Sougo’s had enough.

But!

He thinks this might work.

~Old catchphrases reappearing is actually my jam!~

~Who knew?~

...okay, everyone who’s been following me through this liveblog for the past… six months that I’ve been doing liveblogs for. Oh. Huh. I. Genuinely hadn’t realized it had been that long. I started doing these full reactions with the Gaim arc in November. Hm.

!

!!

!!!!

!!!!!!!!

Over-Time included LYRIC SUBTITLES!

Zi-O! Why! Why can’t you put the song credits in the credits!

I mean, that would have been an INCREDIBLE spoiler in this case! But! Holy shit!

It would be a huge spoiler because this isn’t one of Zi-O’s songs.

This is from Agito. It’s titled BELIEVE YOURSELF.

This is appropriate.

The Zi-O team hasn’t had a real chance to fight alongside their predecessors. Not really. Zi-O and Geiz fought ‘with’ Build and Cross-Z, but they had to bow out shortly through the fight. Same with Ex-Aid. Ghost and Specter only fought together, not with the boys. Quiz and Kikai don’t count – they debuted in Zi-O. They fought AGAINST Decade and DiEnd. The next people to transform… were Blade and Chalice, and they weren’t working together. Their powers were taken before they could have fought as a team.

This? A fight with the Kamen Rider having his powers intact? Not just intact, actually, but returned? And not rapidly disappearing?

This is what we WANTED. I mean, hell, this is what the SHT movies SHOULD have been.

And the choice of song is incredibly fitting, too. I mean, here. Here’s the page on the KR Wiki. Go check it out, and you just try to tell me that’s not appropriate for Zi-O as a whole, but especially for the events lately, and of this arc.

Okay, okay, back to the battle. Which is glorious.

For one, Zi-O using one of the Agito Drones to hold part of his sword while he removes the mask element from it, so he can attach said mask to the other sword, and combining the two while the drone is still slightly impaled? That’s CLEVER. And I’m pretty sure that’s Sougo at work, too – he’s done similar before, getting others to turn his belt and complete his transformation. And the Kings Slash grows and impales several more drones before he swings.

And, interestingly, when Trinity and Agito prepare their finishers? Another Agito Prime forces his way through the drones to be the one to take the hit – to the point of standing directly in front of the two Rider Kicks, and putting his chest out there. Asking to be hit.

And that Dual Kick is SOMETHING ELSE! Driving him all the way across the plaza, knocking over any drones they encounter in the line of ‘fire’, and digging a trench into the ground! THIS is a fight scene!

Yet another entrusting of the watch.

Tsukuyomi has found her resolve.

Woz has found a secret.

And next episode –

Wait a minute.

(checks the calendar)

VERY nice.

Sougo’s birthday episode? Airs on his birthday. Nice planning, Toei! And you checked a calendar correctly this time!

(But you couldn’t be bothered to check the year when you set Kazumin’s phone, could you?)

Also, it looks like they might be aiming a little closer to the first part of Hibiki for the tribute arc, with the kanji appearing on screen in the preview.

((so, it’s now… 3:45, so I wound up taking… let’s see. Started at 12:15, so a complete time would be three and a half hours, but there was that twenty minute gap when I went from 31 to 32, so… about three hours and ten minutes to watch 40 minutes of a children’s Sunday morning superhero show.))

((WORTH IT.))

[artkaninchenbau]

LOSS THOUGHTS

So, up until now each tri. movie had been better than the one before it, and I’ve really liked that trend. Did Loss keep it up?

I didn’t think Loss was better than Confession, I don’t even really think it was quite as good as Confession, but at the same time I don’t think it was worse either. It’s kind of hard to describe it, but overall I felt like Loss was a fairly satisfying movie that finally gave us some answers to a few questions (like, maybe to 5-10~% of the questions we had so far, which is better than nothing in my book), and it was pretty harmless too in my mind.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

First and foremost

I would like to thank not only God but also Jesus for making Toei animate the Dark Masters, Piemon specifically, once again. It has been 18 years since Piemon was last animated and even if the animation in those bits wasn’t the best I’ve seen, I’m just so overwhealmingly happy to see him again I don’t even care about anything else anymore

OKAY BACK TO THE MOVIE

Lemme complain about a few things

This is kind of a nitpick but it really annoyed me so I’m gonna complain about it anyways. In Daigo’s flashback, when Maki is explaining to Daigo how she wants to do the reboot to get Bakumon back, Daigo decides to be a Class A douche, dismisses her emotional pain and tells her to pay attention to himself instead.   Sorry not sorry, the “Can’t I be your partner” line is nasty, manipulative and not romantic at all. It wasn’t romantic in Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, and it’s not romantic here, the only excuse Sailor Moon gets when it came to that line was that it was a show filled to the brim with overall bad plots that were supposed to be “romantic” and that show was made in the 90′s. It’s 2017, and Daigo was being really selfish and emotionally manipulative in that flashback. It wasn’t romantic aND IT BOTHERS THE HELL OUTTA ME OKAY   I’m just glad it was a very brief moment and line so they didn’t linger on it but man, it just... It got under my skin >:/

Now, it hasn’t been quite explained yet if the Mugendramon and Metalseadramon are the two Dark Masters fully revived etc, and there is that possibility they aren’t the same Digimon (or, based on the visual cues, one could also make a guess that they’re being mindcontrolled like puppets or something), but if these are the same Digimon, I really wanna know why were they reduced to making animal noises when they can speak. IDK I was kinda hoping to see Mugen’s and MetalSea’s VAs to come back to reprise their roles, so not hearing them talk was kinda sad. (Sidenote: Mugendramon’s roar not being the same as in Adventure threw me off so much but that’s a Class A nitpick)

I’m not really fond of the idea that tri. just inserted Yggdrasil into Adventure. I’ve never been fond of Yggdrasil as a concept and I like my Adventure without it (good thing tri. didn’t actually like physically insert it into old Adventure lol)

There were a few weird scene transitions, I still don’t care for Mei, the stock footage fest was kind of ridiculous at the end, the two Ultimates sorta getting their asses kicked by Child level Digimon was outrageous but that’s kinda it. I think those are all my main complaints on Loss (also animation but I’ve been complaining about that since Reunion so whatever)

I don’t think I really have much to go out of my way to praise it for aside from Maki’s and Bakumon’s reunion scene which was excelent. Also some of the lines that were picked directly out of Adventure were great

But the big thing I do wanna discuss is indeed, the opening prolouge/flashback, featuring indeed, the previous Chosen children fighting the Dark Masters

(Note: Didn’t they say in Adventure that the previous Chosen defeated and sealed away APOCALYMON, not the Masters? It’s been a while so I don’t remember and don’t have time to double check it, but yeah, that’s an unnececary retcon (unless we get more info to explain how it’s not a retcon but until then I’ll call it a retcon))

Considdering how I felt like when I saw that bit and based on a few people’s comments, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people were disappointed by the reveal that Daigo and Maki were part of the previous Chosen, Daigo being the first goggle head, and four of the partner Digimon became the Four Holy Beasts, while Maki’s Bakumon (/Megadramon) died

Like, I’m not gonna lie, I was kinda disappointed when I first saw it, thinking “are they actually gonna do this” to myself, but the more I think about it I can kind of accept that these two were indeed previous Chosen. In my mind, it’s not a bad development, but not a good one either. It’s a neutral one

But I can already see lots of people not liking this turn of events, and indeed, finding it disappointing. I was trying to figure out why people will without a doubt feel that way and I remembered something

So there’s this wonderful show from 2015 that Toei also happened to make called Go! Princess Precure. In the show our main character read a fairytale about the Princess of Flowers when she was little, dreaming she too could one day become like the princess from that book. Well, in one episode our main character gets the chance to actually meet the author of that fairytale and she asks why the author didn’t write a sequel to the story. The main character points out how many people want to know what happened to the Princess of Flowers after the ending, including herself, and the author explains that she couldn’t write more.     She knew that everyone who had read her story ended up making their own stories about what happened to the Princess after the ending. If she wrote a sequel, she’d end up disappointing all those children who loved her story because she wouldn’t be able to meet all of those expectations all at once, since every fan sequel people had made in their heads would be too different from one another. She’d end up ruining everyone’s own take on what would happen by telling what actually did happen.

And yeah. That’s basically what’s going on here.

Everyone had their own headcanons on who the previous Chosen Children were and what kind of experiences they had, and now tri. has given us a somewhat absolute answer (like there’s still three more Children that we didn’t getting see in that flashback so y’all can still hold onto that “Yamato’s dad was a Chosen”-headcanon) that goes against what we had headcanoned and hoped for. It’s no surprise if anyone feels disappointed by this turn of events.

It’s not wrong or anything to feel disappointed of course, but IDK, I can only hope that people will realize and truly understand why the feel the way they do before they go and start ripping tri. a new one for wanting to answer a question we all had been asking up until now. I mean so far I haven’t noticed any inherent flaws in that reveal or things that were truly bad or wrong so I don’t see any reason to really hate it.

Then again I hate Zero Two for mostly no reason so what do I know lol

BUT YEAH

LOSS WAS OKAY IN MY MIND

I can’t believe I have so little to say about it

I can’t wait for Part 5 - Symbiosis, I want more answers yo, ‘cAUSE HOLY FUCK THAT ENDING

YOU CAN’T END IT LIKE THAT

Oh and for now I’ve dropped the “Gennai is Piemon”-theory, it could still happen but I’m kinda doubting it despite all the bad touch stuff that happened

That said, yeah, since rebooting will allow Digimon that died in the real world to revive too, Vamdemon coming back sounds very possible. And VoltoBautamon is still a thing so yeah, I am still expecting to see Piemon eventually. But yeah, I’m doubting Gennai is Piemon, they did state that “he has fallen into the hands of darkness” which makes it sound like it’s more plausible that Gennai has been turned into a creepy, mindcontrolled puppet by Piemon (hello black orb from Adventure).