#{ eiji you are probably at the right friendship level she's just. not used to people getting close enough to be friends with her v.v ;; }

[lielove]

❛  you need to be honest with me.  ❜ ouo

i forgor the meme. 💀

she needed to be honest with him...

had she been too careless ?? let the wrong thing slip out one to many times ?? allowed him to get too close to her than she should have. he was an intelligent guy, sure but...

ah.

what a mess this was going to be.

which lie did it for him ?? where would she need to start to unravel the web of lies that she's weaved.

and more importantly ; who would he tell about it.

❝ i don't know what you mean !! ❞

tries to play it off dumb at first - at least to get him to specify what she needed to be honest with him about. maybe it was something minute, something that she'd be overthinking and would laugh to herself about when this was all said and done.

❝ i'm not the brightest so... could you maybe clarify ?? ❞

continues her act with a nonchalant laugh, a sprinkle of truth within her lie. she really wasn't the brightest - ai could perform and act... she had street smarts but no book smarts.

❝ if this is about when i didn't tell you who i was-- well, you get why i would have to do that, right ?? ❞ or maybe ai could simply derail the conversation, get him to talk about something else so that he wouldn't bring up what she needed to be honest about.

what other choice did she have ??

they may have gotten closer since the first time they met, but could she really allow herself to be vulnerable around him... ??

[thebladeblaster]

Pokémon: the Vanguard Descends

Chapter 7 The Grueling Battle

Level 30 Ahmes (Gallade) psychic/fighting

Moves:

Slash

Double team

Psybeam

Future Sight

Level 24 Wingal (Rockruff) rock

Moves:

Double team

Bite

Rock tomb

Sand attack

Level 28 Llew (Wimpod) water/bug

Moves:

Struggle bug

Sand attack

Defense curl

A rainbow aura surrounded Aichi as he started to relax before collapsing completely. Misaki and Kamui ran up to Aichi catching him before he could fall onto the ground.

“Is he gonna be alright?”, Kamui asked concerningly.

Misaki held Aichi sitting him up against a rock. Wingal whimpered as it got into Aichi’s licking him rather than cuddling to avoid scratching Aichi with the sharp rocks in its maine.

“I don’t know. His situation is...unlike any I’ve seen before. It was almost like his own power was trying to take control over him.”, Misaki answered.

“Hopefully it hasn’t.”, Kamui said.

“Yeah…”, Misaki replied.

Some people walked up to them as they sat there.

“Thank you very much for saving us.”, one of the people said.

“It’s nothing. Besides gym leaders are supposed to do that.”, Misaki answered.

The people suddenly jumped back in fear at what Misaki said. Misaki and Kamui looked at the people in confusion.

“Y-your a gym leader?!”, one of the people questioned shakily pointing at Misaki.

“Yeah…?”, Misaki answered, confused by their reaction.

“S-she could be in league with Kurosawa!”, someone said.

“Kurosawa...Wait we’re in...Oh my Arceus! I hardly recognized this place in this state. We’re in Kagero town aren’t we? Where is he? What happened here?”, Misaki questioned.

The people looked down, having a distrustful look on their faces. A boy with red hair and purple eyes like the ghost girl walked up a bit nervous.

“Everything used to be fine here. Kurosawa was a great gym leader, a bit weird but good. He kept the ghost Pokémon in control, but one day out of nowhere he changed…”, the boy started as Misaki and Kamui gasped.

“He suddenly said this town is for the ghosts. All those who are weak will be weeded out and become ghosts. Then only strong will be left. It was so horrible m-my poor sister...she wasn’t as lucky as me.”, the boy said.

He looked over to Drifblum all beaten up struggling to move.

“I’m glad my sister has been avenged.”, he said.

“T-this is so-Ahhh!!! What’s with those Team Asteroid jerks?! They just take away everything from so many people. If we didn’t come when we did more people would be dead! Why? Why? Why are they doing this?”, Kamui asked as he broke into tears unable to contain it anymore.

“Kamui…”, Misaki said, patting Kamui’s back.

“I-I remember coming by here just a few days ago and it was fine. Now, that poor girl ah! I remember her. She was so nice, wasn't her name Ime?”, Kamui continued.

“T-that’s right that was my sister Ime.”, the boy said looking down.

Misaki tightened her fist till they shook.

“That’s it! I’m crushing those jerks! Just point me to where they are!”, Misaki said angrily.

“Here.”, the white haired teen from before said alongside the cloaked men.

The people instantly cowered in fear at their presence.

“You!”, Kamui growled pointing at the white haired teen.

“Me.”, the white haired teen replied.

“You're the jerk who screwed up my hometown! And the reason Reiji and Eiji quit being trainers!”, Kamui said.

“Who were they? Huh, probably some small fries not worth remembering.”, the white hair teen taunted.

Riolu looked out from behind the rocks gripping its paws tightly. He looked over to the white haired teen, Drifblum, and then the unconscious Aichi.

“That kid. What’s with him? I can’t get a read on what kind of person he is at all. His aura seems to go from relaxing to terrifying at the drop of a hat.”, Riolu thought, looking down to Wingal glaring at the white haired teen standing in front of his unconscious master to protect him.

“Even when his aura became terrifying they stood by him...is this friendship?”, Riolu thought, it didn’t know why, but it felt compelled to jump in to fight.

Was it seeing this genuine display of bond from people who didn’t even know each other that long? Perhaps Wingal’s willingness to protect his master? Or the horrendous atrocities committed by Team Asteroid? Riolu wasn’t sure, but he felt like he must fight now.

“Let’s go, Buster! It’s time to get revenge on this jerk!”, Kamui said as Buster got into a fighting stance.

The white haired teen smiled smugly.

“You think you can actually defeat me? One of the admins of Team Asteroid? Me Yahagi Kyou!”, Kyou questioned grabbing a Poké ball from his belt.

Misaki threw out Assista Eevee who got into a fighting stance.

“Che! Those lame Pokémon are all you got? Besides I’m not interested in you dweebs. I’m interested in that guy!”, Kyou said pointing at the unconscious Aichi, causing Wingal to growl at him.

“What do you want with Aichi?”, Kamui questioned.

“I wanna find out the secret to that power, so I can have it for myself.”, Kyou explained.

“Are you crazy!? Did you see what it did to him?”, Misaki questioned.

“Heh! Maybe, some weakling like him couldn’t control it. But, I can handle it! But, first I’m gonna have to get you two out of the way.”, Kyou said before throwing out a Hawlucha.

“Sky Diver use sky attack!”, Kyou commanded as the bird-like Pokémon dove onto Buster.

Kamui gasped as Buster was knocked out instantly.

“Oh my Arceus! Your Pokémon is so weak!”, Kyou laughed as Misaki tensed.

“Goon 1, goon 2, goon 3 destroy these weaklings their a waste of my time.”, Kyou ordered as the hooded figures stepped in front of Misaki and Kamui blocking them from interfering.

They threw out their respective Pokémon a Mimikyu, Lantern, and Gengar.

“Kurosawa?”, the boy questioned.

Misaki recognized the one with green hair as Kurosawa.

“Kurosawa! You gotta snap out of this! Do you know what you're doing?! So, many innocent people of your town have gotten hurt.”, Misaki said.

“They were weak. They suffered because they must. Weakness is a sin.”, Kurosawa said in a trancelike state.

“You can’t beat all three of us Misaki especially since we have the type advantage here.”, another one of the cloaked figures said.

“Grr! She’s not alone she’s got me! Go, Kaiser!”, Kamui said bringing out his Pupitar.

With Aichi���

“Now, all I gotta do is bring in this twerp to be dissected then I can find out secret to that power.”, Kyou said with Sky Diver beside him walking up to Aichi.

Wingal growled at Kyou as he neared.

“Heh! Oh, look a weak Pokémon that was so useless it couldn’t even do its job.”, Kyou taunted.

Riolu finally jumped out beside Wingal hearing those words.

“Rockruff!? (It’s you!?)”, Wingal questioned, seeing Riolu take a fighting stance beside him.

“Hehe! A Riolu. Reminds me of the weak one I used to have before I replaced it with Sky Diver!”, Kyou said as Riolu tensed.

“These two weaklings honestly think they can win? End them Sky Diver!”, Kyou ordered as the Hawlucha dived towards the two with a kick.

Riolu jumped out of the way, but Wingal stayed because it was aimed towards Aichi. Wingal coughed out hard as it was blown back by Sky Diver. Riolu looked towards Wingal gasping as Wingal coughed up blood.

“Super effective. I knew you wouldn’t allow Sky Diver to hurt your poor trainer there now your done.”, Kyou said.

“R-Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! Riolu! (Y-You bastard! Aura! Aura! Aura! Aura!)”, Riolu roared in rage recklessly punching Sky Diver.

“Hehe! It even does that stupid punch barrage like my old one. And just like that worthless piece of trash you're about to get released, but instead from this life! Go, Sky Diver! Sky attack!”, Kyou ordered.

Riolu coughed up blood like Wingal falling over.

“And that’s all she wrote.”, Kyou said as he went over to grab Aichi.

As he did boulders and other rocks were hurled at him. Sky Diver jumped in the way kicking and punching the rocks. A few of the rock fragments cut Kyou who cursed. He looked over to see Wingal barley standing.

“You little shit! You cut my beautiful face! Prepare to die!”, Kyou said enraged.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! (I don’t care if you kill me! But I won’t let you bastards take him!)”, Wingal howled.

Riolu looked over to Wingal barely conscious.

“Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! Rockruff! (I may be weak! Fuck I’m so weak Aichi almost died! But even so I’ll protect him! Because he’s the best human I’ve ever met!)”, Wingal yelled before it started to glow.

“What!?”, Kyou gasped being briefly blinded by the light as well as Sky Diver.

Wingal grew larger and was now a dark blue color; its maine was much larger and curved. It more resembled a wolf than a puppy now. It has a long white tail and the rocks one it’s maine had sharpened. It let out a loud howl. It’s green eyes glowed red upon seeing Kyou.

Level 25 Wingal (Lycanroc (dusk)) rock

Moves:

Crush Claw

Bite

Rock tomb

Sand attack

“Even if you’ve evolved you still can’t defeat Sky Diver!”, Kyou said.

“Grrr! Lycanroc! Lycanroc! (Grrr! Then, I’ll just defeat you!)”, Wingal growled as it launched itself at the cocky Kyou and Hawlucha.

It clawed Kyou as Sky Diver jumped in front.

With Misaki and Kamui…

“Assista Eevee use future sight then use dazzling gleam!”, Misaki ordered.

The Espeon weaved through the ghost Pokémon moves. It emitted a powerful pink flash blowing back the ghost Pokémon.

“Now, go Kaiser! Dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as Kaiser shot waves of darkness at the ghost Pokémon while they were mid air.

“This isn’t over Mimikyu use play rough!”, Kurosawa commanded as Assista Eevee intercepted the attack.

“Not so fast! Assista Eevee use shadow ball!”, Misaki ordered as Assista Eevee flung the shadow ball at Mimikyu mid attack.

“Darn! How can she be so strong!?”, one of the cloaked figures said.

“I’ve got this, go save Aichi!”, Misaki ordered Kamui.

“I can’t just leave you!”, Kamui replied.

“Go!”, Misaki said forcefully as Kamui flinched in terror complying.

With Aichi…

“Kill it! Sky Diver! Kill it!”, Kyou ordered as he felt blood drip from his chest from Wingal’s claws.

Sky Diver wasn’t as hurt standing in front of Kyou before launching itself at Wingal again.

“Kaiser use dark pulse!”, Kamui ordered as the wave of darkness set Sky Diver off course crashing into a rock.

“Fucking uselessness! Piece of shit!”, Kyou cursed.

He jumped as Wingal growled, baring its teeth at the defenseless Kyou.

Somewhere…

Aichi found himself waking up in a strange void. He looked around confused vaguely remembering what happened. He covered his eyes as a brilliant light appeared. It was like the sun.

“Sendou Aichi. I have tried all I could, but it looks like it is becoming impossible to suppress your power any longer. You must tame it and awaken quickly.”, a voice told him from the light.

He could tell something there, but due to the blinding light he couldn’t tell what it was.

“How do I do that?”, Aichi asked covering his eyes.

“You’ll have to find a way. There’s no way you can defeat Suzagamori Ren without using them.”, the voice replied.

“Who are you? Are you Arceus?”, Aichi asked.

The voice seemed to chuckle a bit at that.

“No. I’m not that important, you can simply see me as a guardian. You are not ready to know who I am yet. You will when you're ready.”, the voice answered.

“When will I know that?”, Aichi asked.

“You’ll know eventually...now awaken Sendou Aichi. You're needed.”, the voice commanded as suddenly the light spread across the entire void.

With Aichi…

Aichi’s eyes fluttered open as he looked around confused. His head was throbbing and he still felt drained. His eyes landed on Wingal; it took him a few seconds to recognize it as Wingal now in its newly evolved state.

“Wingal…?”, Aichi muttered.

Wingal blinked it’s eyes returned to green as it’s ears perked up hearing Aichi’s voice instantly running over to him.

[firebirdsdaughter]

Heh heh, whoops…

… Realised I forgot to do a Ryusoulger Raw post.

So… Y’all get to hear my initial reactions to the subbed version! Yay! XD

Let’s a-go!

In no particular order and w/ many typos:

Naohisa peeling the banana for Ui bc she’s so busy staring. XD Ui, I know Asuna is beautiful, and the boys, too, but please remember to eat?

Well, that’s either really convenient, or Naohisa knows more than he’s letting on. This is Sentai. It could be either.

Aw, poor Melto. Come here, I’ll give you a hug. ^^ Sometimes I’m a good mother.

I think I already waxed about why I love the way Banba immediately, like, flies to this guy’s side in the tags of Ryuu’s gifset, but it still holds. Believes he can’t trust people and that kindness is weakness, but still can’t stop himself. I am really hoping for an episode/something way down the line where he has a ‘I would have turned into a monster w/out Touwa and the rest of you’ moment. Might just write one myself, eventually. ^^

And the coincidence, one of the true heroes of Toku, saving the day is also still hilarious. Like, if Banba had been one block over.

Why was he even on this street to begin w/?

Why is Touwa here? I find it hard to believe Banba would at all be interested.

No, actually, I know why. Bc plot.

Aw, he came bc he loves you two and is constantly anxious. Melto is absolutely the type of person who is afraid to let the people he loves out of his sight bc what if they didn’t look both ways before crossing the street and got hit by a truck???? And I doubt Biker Dad’s death helped that at all. Kou and Asuna are all he’s got left of his ‘family’ and he’s secretly terrified of losing them, too. Hey, Melto, I think I just got an idea for an angst tidbit for you, and I’m really sorry.

Aaaaand the youngest brothers are at it again. XD Dorks.

My ‘age’ order for this family is Naohisa, Banba, Melto, Asuna, Kou, Touwa and Ui. Age in quotes bc obviously the canon ages are completely wild. But I think I’ve done the fam break down before, so I won’t go into it again. ^^

I mean, gotta hand it to Wyzul. It’s a situation where acting blatantly weird and out of place works. Like, it’s a legit acting job. People in special events/games. Ren fairs. Yes, he’s acting really evil and suspicious, but that’s easily explainable as that being the character. Another pretty good plan. Very Sentai, but actually a good plan.

OH GOD NO! IT’S A MIMIC! DX

I don’t actually play Dark Souls, but…

Okay, but I wouldn’t be getting too comfy, yet. You’re missing one, and he happens to be the most stab-happy out of all of them. Like, I’m sorry, but as a villain, I would be celebrating while Banba was unaccounted for. I’d be checking the back stairwell.

This confirms that the chibis are merely going in colour order and have no bearing on the focus character.

Mother¡Melto makes another appearance, in a small way. ^^

I don’t know, Asuna. Given that none of you remember how you got here, I think it’s very valid of Melto to fear this was a Druidon trap.

Kou takes a moment to look majestic. XD HAve you been taking lessons from Banba? ^^

This is so obviously suspicious. Like. It’s obviously magic. Touwa and Asuna win the doofus award this ep. At least Kou figured it out eventually.

Touwa is the super winner of the award, though. Asuna had the sense to snap to it when told there were Druidon. XD

Honestly, she probably needs the protein and calories. Her super strength might mean she burns through energy faster than other people.

Actually, I dunno if that makes sense.

Mother¡Melto again. XD ‘Don’t eat mystery meat!’ is kind of like he’s telling her not to take food from strangers…

Yup, Touwa’s a dumb. ^^ I love how in the character blog, Yuito was like ‘he would have gotten scolded if his brother was there.’ XD Probably one of the reasons they didn’t want Banba in Wonderland w/ them. A) he would have snapped Touwa out of it too soon, and B) given how the chests open in their own, they didn’t want to reveal too much about his past, I guess? Though I wish they would tell us at least a little more. Keep it slow, absolutely, but I’m hoping for some more concrete hints soon.

A for effort, Melto. You tried.

Also, oh, Kou. ^^ Cutie. So it is limited—bc they had to stay trapped in the ‘box,’ it couldn’t actually grant Kou’s wish. But it sure tried. Kinda like w/ that Yummy that was destroying people’s dreams when it tried to attack Eiji, and the world came out of his mind.

Aw, he’s fine. The boy is durable. ^^

Kou, now is the time when you assume this is not the real world, you dork. XD

Aw, did Banba help clean up? Actually, there’s no indication if he did or not, but it’s sweet to think he did. ^^

I mean, he’s got a point. It could have a backlash. My recommendation would be to poke it first. Though since Kou crashed into it before, it’d probably just be impervious…

Oh, don’t remind him of that, that was (obviously unintentionally) kinda insensitive of her… Well, it did say that she sometimes has a habit of saying the wrong thing/speaking so bluntly she has trouble communicating… We haven’t really seen that yet, but I think it’s kind of coming into play here, since Melto’s bio, and this ep, establish that Melto is self conscious and doubts himself in comparison to the others… So that probably hurt him a lot  more than she intended it too.

But bc he’s Melto, he didn’t communicate that, so she had no way of knowing and no chance to reassure him she didn’t mean it that way.

God, Banba’s got a compulsive apologising streak, Melto has an inferiority complex, neither likes admitting hurt/weakness, esp to people they care about… And then there’s Asuna being too blunt and saying thing w/out thinking, Kou and Touwa are probably in the ‘bottle things up’ boat, too, just of the Stepford Smiler/Snarker variety… Any more of my quirks you’d like to spread out amongst the team, Toei? Like, maybe Gold is constantly terrified he’s bothering everyone?

Sorry (exhibit A XD) that got a little nonsensical. Right now it’s mainly Banba, Melto, and Asuna who are exhibiting some of my habits (apologising [for ex. rather than thanking someone], a slight inferiority complex compared to more “successful” friends, an in ability to read social cues and saying things w/out thinking).

And I love them for it. DX Really gotta write more Melto now!

Aaaaaaaaand… Now I’m crying all over again. DX I mean, hi Biker Dad and all, but poor Melto… TT^TT

This poor baby… DX Like, you can tell that for a fraction of a second, he’s almost like ‘oh my god, you’re alive?!?!?’ And… Then the memory hits him. DX

And then he promptly logics himself out to ‘I’m hallucinating.’ Oh, baby… DX

I know it would’ve broken the illusion, but… I wish Melto could’ve hugged him. Let the boy hug his Biker Dad. DX

Or, if not, can someone please hug someone??? Please?!?!?

Aw, he’s scared, though. I mean, I totally think he was the anxious, ‘oh my god what if I turn around for a moment and they fall of a cliff?!?’ sort of person before, but losing their Masters magnified that. He loves them so much he was afraid of something happening to them before, but now that something terrible has happened to someone else he loves, it’s even worse.

Basically, he was already terrified of something bad happening to the people he loved, and then something did, validating that terror.

Inferiority complex probably didn’t help. It’s not exactly resentment toward people perceived as ‘better’ (though there is some in it), but feels like a failure on the part of the one w/ the complex for not being ‘good enough’ or able to ‘catch up.’ He knew they were good at fighting, but was terrified by their recklessness and feared he might not be strong enough to help them one day, or something. Not sure any of that made sense.

I do like the idea of Biker Dad inside the Blue RyuSoul just being like, ‘oh no, Melto is worrying himself into a corner, maybe it will help if I astral project and give him a pep talk.’ Might be cute if the Masters’ souls are still semi ‘present’ or ‘aware’ in the RyuSouls.

…

… Ooooooo. I just got an idea. Kinda like in that Magiranger episode. Like, the trio get trapped in some ‘magical dimension’ or something again, and, like, the Masters are somehow there, or their souls come out of the RyuSouls somehow… Anyway, could have something like when… Houka, I think it was, didn’t want to leave that place bc it seemed like their mother was there. Could also include friendship bc maybe the final straw for them finding the will to go isn’t just ‘we need to protect the world’ but also, on a more personal level, the Tatsuis and the brothers? Like, if they realise that the boys are getting overwhelmed in the real world, esp if the brothers are partially fighting to try and rescue them, and are about to get defeated, and meanwhile Ui’s in the line of fire bc she’s trying to help civilians and doing everything she can, too… Could be cute. And heartbreaking.

That was a bad explanation, I’ll try to be more concise later.

Why… Is he explaining this?

Again. I wouldn’t be celebrating while mister handsome murder boy the Majestic Knight is still at large.

I like how it’s still saying ‘here, here.’

Wow, Melto can jump!

Oooo. They came out of the fire! Cool effect.

I’d question how Biker Dad knows this, but he’s dead, so maybe he’s omniscient now. I dunno. I’m inclined to give more leeway to people knowing weird things if they’re dead. Bc they’re no longer tied to this plane, ya know?

Anyway.

…

……

……… Butt. DX

AAAAH! DX Poor baby. He’s all like ‘I did it, dad!’ and briefly forgets that it was an vision, and then of course Biker Dad is gone, and it… TT^TT

Ah, yes. The perfect way to get me to stop crying. Cut directly from sad, introspective Melto to Banba tenderly caressing the lid of some random box. XD

Now, I will not grow out of that joke. XP Ryusoulger here, making me jealous of inanimate objects like pros.

Must everything he does be so very attractive? And by that I mean sexy? But for some reason I am very self-conscious about that word???

Touwa still wins the super doof award.

And now, Melto does math. I think.

XD Kou’s crash into the dome was useful! Though I’m impressed Melto could have any estimation of what the height of that was. ^^

I really like the little collars of the suits. I really do.

AH. I FIGURED IT OUT. THE LITTLE ‘LIFE BLOBS’ ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THE MINUSAUR!

(pictures at the bottom)

CUTE.

XD Using the Minusaur’s power against it. ^^ Nice going Melto.

I guess it’s not technically him piloting alone—though he does seem to be the one in control…

XD Wyzul and Crayon’s reactions are so funny. ^^

Touwa just lying on the grou w/ his arms folded is still funny.

Banba just… Freaking teleports behind Kou. How did he even find them? Did he walk down the street carrying the box while fully transformed? XD

Banba interrogating the mooks is hilarious bc, esp in most recent years, they can’t actually talk. The most recent exception I can think of is Kyuranger’s mooks.

XD The absolutely unnecessarily fancy sword twirling he does just to point it in the other direction. <3

I mean, I guess it might seem a little silly, but… Isn’t there a belief in Shinto that all things have souls, even inanimate objects? So… Not so far afield, really. Though that does kinda make it sadder that Banba just smashed it. DX Requiescat in pace, antique miniature garden box. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Most easily defeated Mimic. Ever.

Asuna and Kou are either staring into my soul, or thinking about how cool Banba is, and I find both to be valid.

Touwa, don’t be mean. DX Ah, dorks.

This scene is really cute. Y’all here turning into a family w/out noticing, between the younger sibs teasing Melto and then goofing off among themselves, Banba just walking behind them like a tired babysitter and even shooting a look at Melto like he’s trying to make sure Blue’s still w/ them… Cuties.

Also, Touwa bouncing. ^^ <3

The soft piano version of the theme song definitely helps, too. ^^

That hug is still available if you want it, Melto.

And yes, I’d like to think it was. ^^

Still wondering what was up w/ that hooded person. They’re in the opening. They can’t just forget they exist! What happened in the rest of that secene w/ the brothers? Not even Touwa has mentioned it. Did they get their memories of the encounter wiped? Or is there something more?

Preview:

I like the opening shot of Asuna playing a carnival game while the boys watch. Like, it’s so cute and family-y. Melto’s so excited for her like a proud mom and Kou seems to trying to perfect his strategy. XD

Asuna once again finds herself talking people out of… That.

At this point, I don’t care how short that Banba sulking scene is or how little it relates to the plot. I just want to see it. ^^

That’s all, folks! Virtual mochi for anyone who read all that! I really liked this episode, and I’m glad for Melto getting a chance to be very heartbreaking, too. Next episode is an Asuna ep, and while I’m a little cagey about it bc of the short summary we saw at first, I’m willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions about how they’re going to handle it. Hoping we’ll see Anky Mom, too, though there haven’t been any shots of her in the previews… Well, it wouldn’t make much sense if they didn’t eventually bring her back in some way. Still hoping for more concrete info about the brothers’, and specifically Banba’s past. Not all at once, but you could slowly start giving us more. Though it’s not that pressing, and is mainly bc I’m an impatient baby—they’ve got time to do it. And then there’s mysterious hooded person who is in the opening. Gaisoulg? Master Gold? Probably too old to be Gold, but who knows. It does seems strange that not even Touwa, the more friendly of the two, has brought it up to the trio. You’d assume he’d mention ‘oh, yeah, mysterious cloaked man came and sought us out and [something something]’ Makes me very suspicious of cloaked man. Did he wipe their memories? Threaten them? Just plan ask them to keep him a secret? Is he friend of foe? Is he Naohisa? Who knows. But I’d like some clues. At some point.

Lastly, the screenshots I promised, of the life blobs, and the thing everyone else probably already noticed:

[obstinaterixatrix]

Hey as someone who wants to know more about Kamen Rider, cause I see it all the time, how does one get into it, like where to start

Oh! Each series is basically self contained, so you can start from literally any series based on the vibe you want. 

For background, Kamen Rider is a long-running Japanese superhero franchise made of multiple series that features a masked hero with a motorcycle (kamen - mask, rider - rider; the motorcycle isn’t usually emphasized per se, but iirc that’s the origin of the name and it’s why Literally Every Rider Will Have A Motorcycle). Each series features a different main character, setting, and plot, with fairly minimal references to other series except for crossover events.

I can’t say much about stuff I haven’t watched, but here’s a rundown of the riders I’ve seen so far in the order I’ve watched them in:

Fourze

space friendship! My favorite series! This is probably the most lighthearted of the riders, and it features a friendship delinquent - gentaro - whose goal is to make even more friends. And he does! And they’re all great! It takes place in a parody of american high school. The soundtrack is very space synth.

W (also called ‘Double’)

hardboiled detective noir! Except it’s more ‘softboiled’ - as tryhard as shoutaro is, he just cares too much about people to do the stoic and cool thing, and he tends to get carried away trying to maintain his (nonexistent) image. He’s tempered by his partner phillip, who’s a hyperfocus weirdo that basically contains the knowledge of everything in the universe as long as he has the right keywords to look up. Both of them make one rider. It’s like pacific rim, except the jaeger is a guy. This is more of the traditional kamen rider atmosphere, I think, because people die more. Also some of these mysteries have legit good twists. Also Akiko is there, she’s unapologetically loud, sometimes she gets pissed and whacks monsters with her slipper, I love her. Very jazzy ost. Also, the ‘previously on’ section is like…. really well formatted!

OOO (pronounced oh-z)

ok so one of my mutuals (the one who got me into fourze) tags this series as ‘weekend at bernies bird edition’ and that’s…. pretty accurate. eiji is a drifter with a good heart who gets wrapped up babysitting this ancient entity named ankh that possessed a guy on the brink of death. Also fighting the manifestation of people’s greed. ankh is what’s keeping the guy alive, but he has his own agenda, and also the almost-dead-guy’s sister - hina - gets herself involved. this series has a lighthearted tone, but kind of a morose vibe, if that makes sense. Gotou has one of my favorite character arcs!

Build 

the current series! It’s not done so I can’t say much about it, but the main character is a physicist, probably, but he doesn’t know because he has amnesia. I’m not really sure what’s going on because most rider series take place in japan, but this series takes place in japan, but after something that was brought from mars catastrophically separates japan into three distinct city-states on account of the giant glowing wall borders that happened. There’s a lot of emphasis on like…. human experimentation, which is looping into a ‘DONT FUCKING TRUST THE GOVERNMENT’ vibe, which honestly, mood.

it’s done now so I’m gonna say: I love build. sento & banjo can’t go too long without having a heartfelt monologue & montage about how much they mean to each other and that’s valid.

Ghost

starts off with takeru dying on his 18th birthday! the protag uses ghosts of ‘heroes’ - major historical/folklore figures including houdini, robin hood, goemon, etc. - to fight against other ghosts. the ensemble cast is mostly used as comedy relief, but there are poignant moments of development and pathos - Alain’s character arc is very well written. imo it’s one of the weaker series plot/writing-wise, but it’s a lot of fun! 

Wizard

I put it around Ghost-level writing. Overall I find it tepid, yet enjoyable; it definitely does pick up in the latter half of the series. Also, Wizard has like……. my number one favorite character. The premise is that Haruto, a wizard, goes around saving people from despair so that they don’t turn into phantoms (because when phantoms take over a host, the host dies). Honestly…. I can’t say any more…… I just want to talk about Nitou…… he’s the secondary rider who shows up about 20 episodes in and he’s a showboating dumbass. I love him.

Gaim

I hate it!

Den-O

time demon tries to make a contract with an endearing guy who just so happens to be the unluckiest most hapless rube that exists. sara’s tag for den-o is something like ‘four demons and their timeshare dweeb’ and that’s basically the best description for the show. it’s fun! it’s really fun! it’s just a really funny show with incredible comedic shenanigans super strong characters, and when it hits those serious moments, it hits hard. the time travel doesn’t always make sense and there’s a bit of surprising writing choices because one of the actresses had to drop out, but if you’re prepared to Let Den-O Into Your Heart… You Won’t Regret It

Drive

cop show about fighting against robots. I don’t think the writing’s good, but drive has like… some of the best comedy in kamen rider, plus some of the best weapon designs. there’s also some really good characters in drive (like Chase) but the writing’s just… not good to women or robots. I wouldn’t un-watch it; when drive’s good it’s good! but when it’s bad it’s. bad.

Ex-Aid

kamen rider doctor gamer. exaid’s a mess, but after the first few episodes it turns into a pretty fun mess imo. for the first five episodes, each episode feels like it should be three times longer than they actually are, but when it hits its stride it’s just… pretty cool! they’re doctors. they’re gamers. someone tries to become god. there’s something about the ending that really ticks me off, but overall I enjoyed myself a lot - there’s a bunch of solid faves in the exaid cast. 

WITH THAT BEING OUTLINED, the only thing that gets confusing, imo, is when it comes to movies. If I remember right, this is how it goes:

-new kamen rider is introduced in the last movie of the previous rider’s series; just establishing look & mechanics, not necessary to watch, just go ahead and start the series instead of watching this

-crossover movie with previous riders - happens early-ish in the series around the 15th ep, time is generally split evenly between the riders with independent-yet-interconnected plots; you can basically skip to the rider you’re interested

-sometimes a crossover movie with the concurrent sentai series; more emphasis is put on sentai, I think??? takes place around ep 25????

-FEATURE FILM ABOUT THE RIDER STARING THE RIDER FEATURING THE RIDER which happens around ep 45 - also introduces next rider as a cameo, iirc???

-other crossover movies that happen after the series

SO YEAH, LOTS OF MOVIES. you can basically watch ‘em at your discretion.

One more note: since Kamen Rider’s been going on for like, almost 50 years, there’s a bunch of series & they’re broken down into 3 sections - showa (the really old), heisei phase 1 (2000s era), and heisei phase 2 (current stuff, but I think this phase is ending soon?). The first three shows I’ve talked about are the first three shows of heisei 2, SO IF YOU WOULD RATHER GO BY ORDER OR SMTH, you can go W, OOO, Fourze, and continue on with heisei 2 (also known as neo-heisei) if you want. If you want more info on heisei 1 or showa, there’s def people out there who know way more than me!