#and the way that IN THAT SENSE Eiji is using Ankh as that drive

[scaredysap]

tfw there are four entire villains in front of you but you only have eyes for your boy

[the-tubort]

Greeed Sentai AU: Ankh

All of the Greeed have major changes to them to better fit this AU, so I'm starting with the Greeeds, particularly Ankh, due to his involvement in OOO being so integral and therefore heavily influencing his presence in this AU.

In order to make this explanation of characters easy, I'm going to break it down into three sections: The Character's Medals and Powers, General Character Information, and Relationships with Other Characters. General changes made to these characters should be very obvious, but if it is a more subtle change, I will say something.

Ankh's Medals:

Ankh's Medals, along with all Greeed medals, stay the same in terms of animals, with the exception of the Crown Medal being a different animal altogether. I'm not exactly sure what I want these Medals to be just yet, so they will probably get their own post in the future.

Ankh's Core Medals he receives across the series for his powers are still Hawk, Peacock, and Condor, and combining them together creates TaJaDor as a Combo. However, Ankh and the other Greeed no longer need three medals to transform into their armor. They just require one medal, but doing so only unlocks that specific Core Medal's power and abilities.

Ankh's main form he takes uses the Hawk Medal, and it provides him a balance between his strength, speed, and defense. He is equipped with the Hawk Blaster while in this form and can use the weapon to drive enemies away with its intense flames. While in Hawk Form, he can also temporarily summon a pair of wings to increase his speed; however, it's best use is to get out of a sticky situation or to provide extra height for a finishing blow.

Peacock Form focuses much more on agility and explosive attacks. In this form, he is not able to maintain his power of flight at all and instead relies on natural speed to simulate a sense of flight. He can create small illusions while equipped with Peacock and uses a fan-like weapon to create them.

Condor Form is a much more physical and aggressive power set. While using Condor Form, Ankh is able to sharpen the edges on his suit to create slashing attacks and has much better control on his wings, and can use them to create a set of blades that also can create flames. His flight is much better while in this form, but due to the physically aggressive nature of the Form, Ankh cannot maintain Condor as long as he could Hawk or Peacock.

TaJaDor functions mostly the same as it did in OOO, that being a perfect combination of his powers and strengthening them to their fullest potential. Most notably, Ankh's weapons combine into the same medal weapon Eiji used in OOO and can insert all of his unique medals along with any combination of his teammates' medals to create an explosive finisher. The biggest change between this and the original would just be the significance. Despite it being a very important form, TaJaDor won't make an appearance until later in this rewrite due to Ankh's Medals being the hardest to track down and obtain. The form also would still take a lot of energy from Ankh, as well as the other Greeed, so they cannot use these forms often. Think of it as a Super Ranger/Battlizer almost.

Ankh's New Character

One of the most notable aspects of Ankh's Character is negative and stingy personality that often leads him into conflict with the rest of the cast. The story of OOO relies on Ankh learning that these people he's been spending so much time with are worth it, and he loves them, but this story isn't going to work the same way.

In this setting, Ankh is the leader of the Greeed and is supposed to be the ideal leader who would only ever do right for his team and his purpose, or at least that was intended, instead Ankh is the kind of person to justify sacrificing a person's life for the greater good for the people around him. His actions and beliefs about how to best save people and fight against the revived king do not mix well with most others, and he often will isolate himself to avoid scrutiny. Ankh was the one to lead the rebellion against the king and ultimately decided to seal him away, but he did not fully consult his team members and did what only he thought was best, leaving everyone else in disarray at his decision.

Ankh's decisions early in this story only continue to prove that he is not only extremely hesitant to form bonds due to his distorted sense of bonds and justice, but he often pits down and belittled others by accident due to his short-sighted tendency. He possesses Shingo's body and lies to him about his true intentions so that he can try and quickly fix the return of the king. Ankh then continues to possess him and lie about his feelings as a means to an end and acts in a destructive manner that he believes best serves the safety of others and has to learn how to listen to others and what it actually means to be a warrior and a hero along with the other Greeed.

Also, due to his major involvement in the sealing process, Ankh lost the majority of his powers and strength, meaning he cannot fully change into his forms and relies on Eiji until he receives his Core Medals. Eiji spends the majority of the first arc filling in for Ankh but does not make any leader-like decisions and let's Ankh try to decide what is best while occasionally butting heads with him. Eiji often goes against Ankh's orders to save innocent people he can reach out towards at the risk of his safety, which both annoy and inspire Ankh.

Ankh ultimately wants to trust in his teammates and friends and desires a world where he can live peacefully with them. However, he would never say that to anyone in any situation.

Ankh's Relationships

This section will mostly just list the characters one by one and then just have a blurb. Sorry, this will be long since there are a lot of characters.

Uva: Respects Uva's strength and willingness to fight even when the chance of victory is slim. However, Ankh often clashes with him because Uva is very reckless and overconfident about his abilities and often endangers himself or the team as a result. Even though Uva would always go in for a fight, he didn't fully believe in Ankh's decision to try and seal the king, and at the beginning, the two cannot agree on much outside of fighting back against the king. They do make up much faster than Ankh and Kazari do.

Kazari: Ankh is often annoyed by Kazari's sneaky and casual behavior. He thinks that Kazari needs to take the situations more seriously and be more honest with the team instead of always sneaking around and planning strategies without telling people and just assuming they'll all follow his plan perfectly. They argue the most initially due to Kazari not agreeing with Ankh's actions at all, and Ankh often thinks that Kazari is bitter that he isn't the leader of the group and that he is trying to put himself into the leader position. This turns out to not be true, but the two take a while to make up and bond.

Mezool: Ankh thinks Mezool is a strong warrior, despite some of her own insecurities, and trusts her the most out of the initial group. He views her as an intelligent and capable person who just struggles to push herself to do the same amazing things that he and everyone else knows she could. He values her input, and she provides an important nuance that the others sometimes fail to think about as Uva and Gamel are very straightforward, and Kazari often treats discussions as a time for him to be sarcastic.

Gamel: Ankh enjoys Gamel's simple-minded approach to life but often worries about him. Ankh believes that Gamel carries a kindness in him that the others sometimes lack and value whatever input Gamel puts into any discussion. His intelligence isn't something he values particularly, but whenever he speaks up and defends himself or Mezool, Ankh takes note of it and enjoys seeing Gamel become more self-assertive.

Shingo: Intially views Shingo as a means to an end and does not care for him much even though he chose to possess him. It is very hard for Ankh to initially trust or value Shingo to keep their secret and defend people because his body is so weak from the inciting incident and worries that in the end neither of them can fight back, however, this will change for the better as Shingo can properly transform to take over for Eiji. They also begin to share a mutual bond of trust and begin to act more like brothers instead of this awkward situation where they both are forced to be together for their safety.

Eiji: This relationship stays mostly the same from OOO, with the major exception that Ankh is much kinder and accepting of Eiji and does not berate or belittle him like he does in the original. Ankh accepts that Eiji is the only person who could fill in for him as he is recovering, and the two develop a much healthier initial bond.

Hina: Ankh treats Hina a bit better here as well, and instead of treating Hina like some annoying girl who is getting in his way, he understands her frustrations about her brother and wants to change the situation for the better so they could be reunited properly. Their relationship also develops in a way they become siblings in a way as Shingo is much more present here, and the possession is not explicitly a one-sided thing.

Gotou and Date: They're going here together since their roles in this AU are not changing much either. Ankh appreciates the two of them acting ad support for their group but often disregards them and is annoyed by their general tendencies and attitudes. He appreciates their desires and still wants to protect humanity and admires their passion but is quick to dismiss them and insist his group are the only people that can save the world.

In terms of villains, the only thing I have so far is that it is the king and Dr. Maki and not much from the original show would change here either with the exception that Ankh would never go to Maki's side. Side characters like Chiyoko and Satonaka are making appearances as well, but that will be brought up later as their roles can be described later on after I finish the main cast.

So yeah, this is my post about Ankh in my AU. Sorry, it is this long, but I have a lot to talk about. Ankh is so interesting to me, but his post probably won't even be as long as the others, especially Mezool and Gamel. I love those two so much and have so many thoughts on them. Also, writing Eiji for this is going to be long as well.

Please feel free to ask questions or reply and reblog, and all that stuff who knows might make a sidelong if this becomes too much.

[sailor-cresselia]

Post Zi-O Concepts: Bringing the boy into the fold

Okay, so, we’re currently 11 hours away from the last episode of Zi-O airing, and I’ve got a whole lot of ideas for how to introduce Sougo into Riders ReUnited. I don’t know if I’ll use any of these, most of them are pretty out dated, but I really wanted to share them before I lost the chance.

Please keep in mind that when I wrote some of these, not only had I not quite finished Decade, but also we were in the middle of the Kiva arc, and thus I had no way of knowing that Tsukasa and Daiki were coming back. Nor did I have any clue that we were actually going to have Gou appear in-show. Er, in-movie. So, y’know. I was working off of what we had at the time. The later ones were from early June, between the Kabuto and Den-O arcs.

Also, these are largely un-edited, because I wrote them at work. I’ve fixed them up for formatting, but that’s about it. No content or contradiction fixes here. My apologies for the math or failures thereof. My additional apologies for Sougo being a bit out of character – I was doing my best, and my best wasn’t great at times.

(CIRCA MAY 19)

Sougo sighs, turning his fork over in his hand, again and again, not really seeing what’s on his plate. It’s a bit of an insult to his uncle – okay, a /lot/ of an insult, if he hadn’t wanted to fix clocks so bad he really could have been a professional chef – but.

But it’s just the two of them again.

…

It hasn’t been the two of them in a long time.

Heh, ‘time.’ That used to not matter. He could go anywhen he needed to.

But Geiz and Tsukuyomi and Woz aren’t here anymore. They don’t need to be here – he’s never going to be Oma Zi-o, not going to be a king. He still has the belt, and the watches, but.

He doesn’t need them now.

They’re done.

He doesn’t need the watches, but…  he needs his friends.

He’d almost forgotten what loneliness was. It’s really hard to go back to, especially now that his uncle has called him out on it.

The door chimes.

“Oh, a customer this early? I’ll go get that.” His uncle gets up, but casts Sougo a worried glance. “Sougo-”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I just need to adjust a little.” He grins at his uncle – and he knows that they both know that it’s fake. “Go on ahead.”

“If you’re sure.” The old man heads out into the storefront.

“Hello, we’re not actually open just ye- Oh, you’re one of Sougo’s friends, aren’t you?!”

The uptick in his uncles voice is weird. Besides, he only had the three – Geiz, Tsukuyomi, and Woz – so he must mean it’s someone from school. Probably here to get something that’s definitely not a clock fixed-

“Ah, yes, I am. Mr. Tokiwa, was it?”

…Wait. He knows that voice.

“Yes, yes, right. You were- oh, what was it-”

“Takeru. Tenkuji Takeru. Is… is Sougo in?”

“Yes, but he’s not really in the mood to see anyone, his friends just moved out, you see-”

What is – what is Ghost doing here? He – okay, yes, he’s one of the few riders who came here, but why would he come to 9-to-5? And ask for Sougo? When he, by all rights, shouldn’t remember any of that happening?

“I know. I… heard, from Kadoya.”

Kado- that’s Decade. How-?

“I’m here to pick Sougo up, actually. There’s some people who want to see him again.”

…What on earth is going on out there?

Against his better judgement – not that his judgement’s that great to begin with – Sougo goes out into the lobby. “Takeru?”

The brunette beams at him. “Hey there, Sougo. It’s been a while. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Takeru’s smile drops a bit. “Some of your information was a bit… off. We all know what was going on. Just… can you come with me? There’s a bit of a get-together, and it’d be a good time.”

Sougo doesn't reply.

In the end, it’s his uncle who decides for him. “I think it’d be a great idea. Sougo, you should go. Get out of the house for a bit. Okay?”

“…Mm-hm. Okay.”

“Great!” Takeru grins. “Do you still have your bike, or will you need a lift? It’s a bit of a distance, so…”

Sougo gives him a wary glance. “…Yeah? I’ve got a bike.”

“Good!”

He turns to his uncle. “I guess I’ll see you later, then.”

“Have fun!” The smile he gives Sougo is only about half forced.

Pocketing the bike watch, along with his belt and his personal ridewatch – just in case, he tells himself – Sougo follows his senior – who shouldn’t remember being his senior – out the door.

–––––

That. Is a really weird looking motorcycle.

Takeru must see the way Sougo pauses, because he laughs. “I know, right? It used to only look like this when I transformed. I got some help modifying it to look like this all the time about a year ago.”

“So, you-”

“We all remember being Riders, Sougo. We’re all still Riders.” He holds up a small ball. “We never stopped.” It looks like the shoulder pads when he used the Ghost armor, so-

“What are those, anyway?”

Takeru’s smile is a little more forced. “It’s called an Eyecon. They… well, it’s what I use to transform. Honestly, though, we should get going.”

“Where are we even heading?”

“My place. I’m close, I have room, and I was supposed to host last month, but then Eiji and Ankh showed up in Japan again, so Miss Chiyoko took over, so now the get together’s at the temple again.”

“Who are any of those people?!” The two start to drive off.

“You’ll meet Ankh soon enough, and you’ve already met Eiji. Hino Eiji, he’s Kamen Rider OOO.”

“Oh, right, the senator.”

Takeru seems to choke on air at that. “Oh my g- is that what he had to do?! Man, no wonder him and Hina refused to talk about it. …Well, that and who his ‘another rider’ was… Let’s just. Let’s just get to the temple, and explanations can happen there, okay?”

“…Sure.”

––––

There’s a lot of motorcycles outside the temple gate.

Like, a lot of them. And two cars.

There’s one that’s green and black, next to one of the cars. [Philip, Shotaro, Ryu, Akiko, Haruna]

Three identical bikes, all of them looking somehow both sleek and bulky at once. [Eiji (large), Ankh, Date, Gotou, Hina]

One that looks weirdly like a space shuttle, and one that’s blue with star patterns. [Gentaro, Kengo, Ryusei]

A red-and-black one, with a yellow front that looks like a cut gem. [Haruto]

Two that have cherry blossom patterns, and one with a rose. [Kouta, Micchy, Kaito, Mai]

Then the other car, a white bike with red stripes, and – what is with the purple one? Why are there skull designs on it?! [Shinnosuke, Kiriko, Eiji (small), Gou, Chase]

Takeru parks his – which looks like a spectral unicorn – next to one that’s blue with chains. [Takeru, Makoto, Alain, Akari, Onari, Kanon]

A bright yellow bike with pink spikes on the front, and a white one with… a hospital logo? That can’t be right, but… Nope, there it is. [Emu, Parad, Kiriya (not the pictured bike), Hiiro, Taiga, Nico, Poppy]

The last one looks like it has one of those bottles that Sento used to become Build sticking out of it. [Sento, Ryuuga]

There's an empty space to the side of it – and Sougo abruptly realizes… that spot is meant for him. [Sougo]

“How… many people are here?”

Takeru purses his lips. “Um… rider-wise… 25, 26 including you. Total people… er, additional 2 with Fuuto, 2 with Eiji and the Births, only one from the KRC, nobody from Haruto’s group, I think Mai came this time, two from Shinnosuke, three from here, another two from the university, because Poppy and Nico keep saying ‘they don’t count as riders’ which literally nobody else agrees with… so. Wow, 37 people all told, counting yourself.”

“That’s… a lot.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna be kinda crowded.” Takeru laughs. “Good thing the weathers supposed to hold up!” He nods to the empty spot. “Go ahead and leave your bike there – Gou said he wanted to get a picture of all the equipment together.”

“Who’s Gou?”

“Photographer, stuntman, and rider.”

–––––

Upon seeing the crowd, and the tables, and food, but most of all the crowd, Sougo balks. “Are… you sure you want me here?”

“We’re sure. You’ve finished, right? You may have noticed we never really retire, but… there’s less to worry about, now.” The look Takeru gives him is warm. “Wait here, there’s three folks in particular who wanted to be the first to see you.”

He leaves for a few minutes, and Sougo sits on a nearby bench. He feels… it’s not the eyes of everyone on him, they aren’t looking right at him. But it feels like they expect something. By all rights, they should be mad at him – he took their powers, after all, and even if they ‘entrusted’ them to him, it’s still not fair to them-

“Sougo? Sougo, breathe, okay?”

Someone’s- someone’s kneeling in front of him, with their hands on his shoulders – why can’t he see who – oh, he’s crying, why is he crying, that doesn’t make any sense-

“You don’t need to worry, we’re not mad at you. Like you said, we trusted you, and you did great.”

Oh, no, was he saying all that out loud, that’s- “I’m sorry, I caused so much trouble and it was my fault-”

“Hey, hey, none of that now. Here, use this, get cleaned up a little-” Whoever’s in front of him hands him a tissue, which he uses to wipe away most of the tears. “That better?”

It’s – what was his name… oh, right- “Doctor Hojo?”

‘Doctor Hojo’ sighs, as Takeru laughs somewhere behind him. “Not this again…” He still grins, though. “If we were at the hospital, yeah, it would be. Just ‘Emu’ is fine while we’re here, though. It’s nice to see you under better circumstances.”

“Uh- yeah, I guess. What is all of this?”

Two more people come up to the small group – that’s, oh man, Build and Cross-Z – no, Sento and Ryuuga. “Emu started it… what was it, a year and a half ago?” Sento looks to Emu, who nods. “Right then, a year and a half, now, give or take a few months.”

“I wanted all of the Kamen Riders to be able to get together, support each other, and all that. We weren’t allowed to tell you before – the time travel experts have said that it would ‘wreak havoc on the laws of causality’ and ‘no one could ever complete their journey if their seniors were guiding them every step of the way’.” Emu’s making sarcastic air quotes every so often, which – well, it does make Sougo smile, because clearly he’s ticked off about it, but understands the reasoning.

Actually, remembering when they met… making him smile was probably the goal.

Ryuuga snorts. “Yeah, like everyone didn’t wind up doing that this time around anyway.”

“Heh…” Sougo chuckles. “‘This time around.’ Because of the time travel. I get it.”

Both Ryuuga and Takeru look incredibly offended. “GOD F-” Ryuuga cuts himself off at Emu and Takerus matching glares. “I mean- Come on, I didn’t mean for that to-”

Takeru shakes his head. “Why with the puns… they just keep sneaking up on us…”

Emu rolls his eyes. “Anyway. This is us, wanting to actually get to know you. You’re one of us, after all.”

Sougo squints. “…Really?”

“Yup.” Sento ruffles his hair – he’d be offended if he weren’t already kind of in shock. “We're Kamen Riders. We help people. It’s what we do.”

“I’ll be back,” Takeru turns away. “I wanna get that photo taken, so we can get some of these bikes out of the front gate, at least.”

––––

“Gou” turns out to be Shijima Gou, Kamen Rider Mach, who is apparently, in addition to a photographer, some sort of absurdly skilled gymnast, given how he gets into a tree to set up his camera. He practically bounces to get up there. It’s impressive. Even more impressive is his use of little model bikes to adjust the camera, and-

“Are… those a dinosaur and a dragon?!”

One of the other riders, in a long sweater with binder clips in his hair, laughs. “Yeah, Fang and Cross. Ryuuga and I are loaning them out for this – they’re coming right back to us after.”

“Um... Sorry, I don't think we've met…”

“Nah, we didn't.” A man in a waistcoat settles his arm over the other. “Nice to finally meet you, kid. Shotaro and Philip Hidari, Kamen Rider Double. Both of us, at once. It's complicated.”

Sougo gapes.

“There's actually a lot of body sharing around here.” Sweater – Philip – scratches the side of his nose. “I did the research, last year. I still have the notes saved to my phone, I can show you if you want-”

“No, no! That’s! Fine! It's not actually anything new to me!”

““Oh?”” Philips eyes light up as the two speak in unison.

“Heh, well…” Sougos smile is wistful. “Me, Geiz and Woz… we got this one form, called Trinity, where they, er, got turned into giant watches, and then we were all basically swapping control of my body.”

A man in a leather jacket mumbles. “Kadoya was right... he is a mini-him.”

“Er?”

“Terui Ryu, Kamen Rider Accel. Don't worry about it. You're far and away less annoying than he is.”

“Who?”

“Decade.” Going by the shadow that crosses his face, Sougo decides not to ask why Trinity would remind him of Decade. As far as he remembers, there was something about ‘going between worlds’ and, of course, the form copying, but that was about it…

“Alright, places, come on, people, we don't have all day!” Gou yells from his perch. “First shot's riders only, second round, we add in the rest of- OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!”

Some of the senior-most riders have pulled out their belts, seemingly on instinct, at the appearance of a rippling wall of air. Sougo then realizes that he did the same. After all, the last few times he saw one of those, he’d been shot into the future, met his evil future self, and then the next time had all of his watches stolen.

Both of those two – Decade and Diend – step through, with their bikes in tow, as well as a man and woman, with yet another motorcycle… and a small robot bat, hovering at the woman's shoulder.

“No, no, NO!” Gou does a flip as he jumps down. "You're gonna throw off the composition! We don't have room for three more motorcycles!”

Terui and Drive – Shinnosuke – sigh. ““We'll move our cars.””

“If I still had the Tridoron…” Sougo hears Drive mumble. “But noooo, Krim had to go down to his depression garage and take it with him.”

Everyone has to move out of the way so the cars can pull out – Sougo's pretty sure he hears Accel mutter something about how it makes sense anyway because ‘he's his own bike’ – so that the three new motorcycles can be added in.

After directing everyone into new places, Gou climbs the tree again, to readjust the camera. “Okay, NOW we're ready, right?!”

A resounding chorus of affirmatives goes around the area.

“Great!” He leaps down – Shinnosuke and his wife tense every time he does this; apparently he’s her brother – and makes his way to his spot. “Okay, in three- two- one-”

The flash goes off in a series of bursts, before everyone relaxes from their poses. He heads up the tree again, to direct the relations into the area for the next shoot.

Sougo starts to tremble. “This isn't right…”

He feels a firm hand clasp his shoulder, and looks up to see Ryuuga smiling sadly at him. “‘Cuz the rest of your team can't be here, yeah?” Sougo nods. “I get it. Neither can ours. Back in December… that wasn't really them. Well, they were, but they aren't here. We're from a different world than this one, and it's… gone, and the versions of our friends here don't know us, were never riders. There's nothing for them to remember, because it never happened to them. So…” He sighs. “Do your best, okay? We can talk more after.”

Hesitantly, Sougo nods. “Okay.”

But before Gou can get very far in reorganizing the sections…

“TSUKASA, NO!” The woman who arrived with him yells, while the guy that isn’t Diend tries to pull him back.

“But have you considered, Tsukasa, YES?”

“Come on, Tsukasa, please don’t.” The mystery man tries to tug him away. “Don't ruin this for us, half the people here barely tolerate you as is, and this is my first real chance to meet anyone-”

“Aw, come on, I'm not that bad!”

Diend snorts. “At what, photography or backstabbing?”

“Pick one!” Tsukasa stops short. “Wait, no, I meant photography, but still! I've gotten better!”

“““No you haven't!!!”””

At this point, Diend is choking on his laughter, the small bat is now trying to bite Tsukasa's ear, and both the boy and girl are trying to drag Tsukasa from going toward the tree.

Everyone else is just watching.

“Tsukasa…” The woman – Natsumi, apparently – gives Decade a warning look, her thumb raised. “We’d agreed you wouldn’t take any of your shitty photos today. That you were going to be supportive of your junior this time.”

Decade, the self-professed Destroyer Of Worlds, backs away nervously. “N- Natsumikan- Natsumikan, no.”

She grins menacingly, as the other man with them – Yusuke, apparently – grabs Decades arms, holding them behind his back, and thus holding him in place.

“But have you considered, Natsumi, yes?”

The other Riders look on as she jabs her thumb into the side of his neck, and he collapses into uncontrolled laughter. Everyone else stares, dumbfounded, as the two give the same treatment to Diend.

“I’m not gonna lie, it’s always a relief to see that Tsukasa and Daiki aren’t nearly as big of assholes as they try to make themselves out to be.”

Hina – HINA! – nods. “Good thing they have Natsumi and Yusuke to be the sane ones.”

––––

In the end, they were not, in fact, able to stop Tsukasa from taking a photo of the group. He winds up taking several, actually, because apparently his camera can’t shoot wide enough to get the group at once. They resign themselves to allowing him a shoot of the fully assembled group, as well.

“I'll bring all of you the prints once i develop them.” He smirks.

“I apologize for everything he is going to do.” Natsumi sighs. “These two are the worst.” She juts her thumb at Decade and Diend to point at them.

Unsurprisingly, given the earlier display, they both step away nervously when she does that.

––––

Sougo… can't really bring himself to interact with anyone after that. He's still there, it's not that he's zoning out, but… well, he was never good at interacting with people before his parents died, or after he came to live with his uncle, or after he met-

He looks down at his lap, pulling out his ridewatch, and runs his thumb around the base. He doesn’t trigger it, that would just draw attention to him that he really doesn’t want right now.

“Hey, Sougo, you in there, bud?”

“Mm?” Looking up, there's a man with a… okay, wow, nobody here gets to get on him about his wardrobe, because this guy's in a plaid blazer with a pompadour. What the actual hell. “Um, and you are…?”

The man grins. “Gentaro Kisaragi, Kamen Rider Fourze – the guy who’s gonna befriend all the Kamen Riders!” He pulls Sougo to his feet. “Come 'ere, like this.” After guiding Sougo through a complicated handshake, he positively /beams/. “There. Now we're friends!”

“I don't… think that's how friendship works, though…”

“It is with Gentaro. Utahoshi Kengo. So, you're the latest, hm?” The man – Kengo – gives Sougo an appraising look, before sighing. “Well, at least you're older than we were.”

“Eh?”

‘Wow, Sougo, way to go, great first impression, tell the blatant friendship monster he's probably friending wrong, and then look like an idiot in front of this guy what's clearly a scientist-’

“We were 17.”

“EH?!”

––––

“Hey, Zi-O.”

Sougo turns, and. Oh. Okay. It’s Decade. That's great. “Yes?”

“Couple things I wanted to say. First… the day with the bus…” He hesitates – visibly hesitates, and that doesn't seem like him.

“What about it?”

“I was there. I was only able to save Tsukuyomi and myself, so… I’m sorry, I know your parents were on there, and a lot of other people, too, and… I wasn't able to save them, so. I'm sorry for that.”

“It's okay, it was a long time ago, so it doesn't really matter anymore-”

“Wasn't for me. World traveler, remember? Sometimes that includes jumping between points in time. A lot of the time it includes that, actually. So that was only a few months ago for me.”

“…Ah. …Thanks.”

“There's another thing, too. Less awful, though.” He pulls out a folder. “Probably still awful, but in a different way. I thought you ought to have these.” Passing the folder to Sougo, he looks slightly away. “I know I'm supernaturally terrible, but… well, the pictures that I take of Kamen Riders are about the best I can do.”

His forehead wrinkling, Sougo removes the papers from the folder.

They’re all photographs.

There's him, in the dining room – that'd be right after he came back from his deal with Gho- with Takeru.

Geiz, by a warehouse – when…? Wait, that might be the day he met Oma Zi-O.

Tsukuyomi, on a hilltop… “When was this one taken?”

“…The day of the bus accident. I brought her and myself to where that guy brought you and the other kids. This is outside that city.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Woz, giving one of his speeches. Looks like this is when he used Ghost armor for the first time.

“I normally don’t get to give these to the Riders I take them of, since I'm usually on my way out of that World by the time I get around to developing them. I hang onto 'em, though. Since you're ‘done’ now, I figured you should at least get to see them, if nothing else.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I mean, do whatever you want, I know I'm terrible-”

“Thank you.” Sougo rubs at his eyes, before looking up at Dec- at Tsukasa. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means.”

––––––––

(June 6)

“So…” Looking around, Sougo pauses before continuing to speak. “Dr… Hojo?”

“Seriously, just call me Emu while we're here.”

“Okay then. I can't help but notice… Nobody here was a rider before 2009. How come more people aren't here?”

Emu grimaces a little, at that. “Well, we haven't really been able to contact anyone from then.” He hesitates, his brow furrowing, before continuing. “Well, okay, that's not entirely true. Gentaro’s met Amazon, but most of the riders from the 70's and 80's don't socialize that often.

“Takeru's met Ichigo – the first rider – but never heard back from him with regards to coming.” He shrugs. "We know he's still alive, because Takeru's friends with his grand-niece, and she'd have told us if he'd passed, but that's about all we know. The oldest riders tend to be off around the world. I met Blade, once, but he can't stay in Japan, because apparently his powers would-”

“-would make him have to fight his friend, right?” Sougo interrupts. “I… might have fixed that, actually. For him and his teammate, Chalice.”

Emu holds up a finger. “Hold that thought, please. I'll be right back.” He runs off.

“…What did I say?”

A few minutes later, Emu returns with a tablet. “Okay, I can't believe we didn't think of this.” He laughs. “You went around and met almost everyone – or people who know them – right?”

Sougo nods.

“Who can you reach again?!”

“Well, I can… kinda contact some of them. I know where they'd go back to, anyway.”

A small crowd has started to gather – people curious to see what's going on, people who'd heard Emu's shout and wondering just who they might meet.

Sougo pulls out his own smartphone, heading into the browser. “I bookmarked the site for the restaurant Kenzaki-san’s sorta-niece works at, hang on.” He pulls up the page. "Here, the Jacaranda Cafe. She can probably reach him, now, and Hajime. I kinda made them both human. Somehow. Not sure if that's good or not?” Sougo winces.

Kiriya stares. “Me'n the banana are gonna have /so/ much explaining to do. Do you have any idea how overpowered you are, kid?”

“There's also here, Restaurant Agito… Kamen Rider Agito owns that one.”

“Hrmph.” Kaito makes a noise. “A lot of explaining. Hope he was on good terms with Kino.”

Sougo looks at them, decides that either he’ll find out later, or that he probably doesn't want to know, and continues. “I’ve also got the numbers for Todoroki, and Gatack – although he might be Kabuto, now? It was a little weird… There's also this one dry cleaning place, where Faiz works-”

There's a loud sputtering sound from another side of the group. “Takumi is alive?!”

“Is he not supposed to be?”

Shinnosuke groans. “He's really not. There's a number of reasons I wasn't thrilled with your time-travel deal, Sougo.”

“Least he's got a better grip on the time thing than I do. His meddling actually works.” Kouta mumbles.

––––

(This one’s a different version of events, and I’m not sure when I wrote it anymore.)

“You look down, kid.”

Sougo looks up, as a man in a fedora leans against the tree next to him.

“You realize you did a damn good job, right? There’s zero grudges here.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me… but it’s not right… it’s not my celebration to get into.” Sougo squints. “Sorry, I don’t recognize you at all.”

“Hidari Shotaro, one half of Kamen Rider Double. The Joker half, specifically, since I heard your form only goes into our first.” He grins. “Sorry we couldn’t make it there in person. Your friend in the scarf kinda messed with Philip by going into the library when he wasn’t supposed to. We only got it together in time for that battle.”

Grimacing, Sougo flinches back. “Sorry. Woz basically did whatever he wanted back then, he was a bit… er. Cagey. Always was, really, but at least he… well, we worked together more easily, anyway.”

Shotaro lowers his hat to cover his face. “I heard mention that your friends went back to their time, is that right?”

“Yeah… but… their time was the one where I became overlord, and since we’ve stopped that from happening… I…” Sniffing, Sougo looks down. “I don’t even know if they exist anymore. Tsukuyomi, Geiz, and Woz are the first real friends I have ever had, and for all I know, they’ve been written out of the timeline, just – just been erased, like White Woz was when we first used Trinity,” he starts to tremble. “And it’ll be my fault because my being evil was what made it possible for them to exist in the first place, so if I never become evil, then they won’t exist-”

“Hey, hey, come on, calm down.” Shotaro puts a hand on Sougo’s shoulder. "You're gonna get dehydrated or something if you keep having crying fits, and then Emu’s gonna get on all our heads for letting that happen.” He gives a brief squeeze before letting go. “I’m not saying not to be upset, or to not worry or miss your friends. But breaking down… doesn’t help. Believe me, I get it. I’ve been there – Philip was ‘gone’ for a year, when all was said and done, and I… well, if he hadn’t been restored when he was, I probably wouldn’t have been even semi-functional for very much longer.” He sighs. “So, I’m not saying to forget, but don’t let it consume you. Things here turned out fine. You just have to have faith that they’ll turn up again. Hopefully sooner, rather than later. You’ll have a hard time beating out the record for longest wait – that’s Eiji and Ankh, at 9 years, followed by Gou and Chase at 5, Philip and myself at 1, Emu with Poppy and Parad at a month, and Gentaro and Kengo at about a week.”

“So… here's hoping for second or third, then?”

“Now you’re getting it. Gotta warn ya, the humor gets a little dark around here sometimes. It’s a coping mechanism. Just let someone know if that gets to be too much for you, at any point. Doesn’t matter if it was fine at a previous meeting. If it gets hard, we want to know, so we can help.”

Sougo rubs at his eye with his fist. “Still can’t believe you guys plan to invite me back…”

Shinnosuke sits down on his other side. “It’s an open invitation. Nobody’s required to come, but just so that you know, that invitation will never close, and neither do the communication lines. If you need time away, we get it. But… I’m not going to lie, that sounds like it’s a bad idea for you. Not talking, that is.”

“I’ve… I’ve had enough of being alone for one timeline. It was just me and my uncle for so long… and then they came barging in, and now they’re gone again…”

Shin: “Can you tell us about your uncle? Takeru’s the only one here whose met him, and only briefly.”

That gets Sougo to give a small smile. “Yeah, that… sure was a day. So, Takeru-san… is not a good liar, is he?”

““Not really, no.””

“He did seem like he got what I was dealing with way too much to not remember. But my uncle… he’s great. He took me in after my parents died, and he’s been the one constant since then. He fixes clocks for a living. Or, well, he fixes everything, really, but he prefers clocks. He even managed to fix a train one time.”

““The den-liner?””

“…Okay, yes, it's a time traveling train, and that was a really weird day, but still. Train. Though, gotta be honest, if he wasn’t fixing clocks? He’d be a really good chef. His first instinct whenever a rider came by was to make them something to eat.” His face darkens as he looks across the way. “Though the meal wasn't always intended for them…”

Shinnosuke follows his line of sight. “…What did Tsukasa do?”

“He stole my dinner. The first time I saw him out of suit, he stole. My dinner. When I had literally been a ghost all day.”

They both wince. Shotaro laughs nervously, adding “That’s a pretty good reason to hold a grudge against Kadoya. But your uncle’s a good repairman and cook?”

“Yeah! Yeah, he is! I mean, Agito-san said he could be professional, and he is a professional chef, so-”

“Wait!” Shotaro holds up a hand. “Agito?”

“Yeah.”

“Kamen Rider Agito?”

“Yeah.”

“Sougo, new question for you.” Shinnosuke looks at him, serious. “How many riders did you meet that aren’t here?”

“A lot of them. Why?”

“Do you have anyone’s contact information? This group isn’t supposed to just be the 2010s, it’s that we’re the ones who Emu was able to get in contact with.”

Shotaro puts his belt on. “Philip? Do you mind sending Emu over here?”

––––

(This one’s from August 22, before I remembered I should probably just wait until after the finale actually came out.)

“Sougo-kun?”

“Hm?”

“Are you feeling alright? You've barely touched your dinner.”

Sougo blinks, looking down at his plate. “…Oh. sorry. Your cooking deserves way better than that. I was just… distracted.”

His uncle sits down beside him. “You miss them, don't you?”

It's hard, he’d never admitted to being lonely to his uncle before, not in so many words, but now…

Now 9-to-5 feels so empty.

“Yeah. I do.” His vision blurs, just a little, before he blinks and it goes back to normal… or not, because he can feel something warm on his cheek. He's crying.

“Sougo…” Uncle pulls him into a one armed hug. It's nice. They've never really been this touchy-feely before, it always felt odd, but… they both need this. Now that Geiz, Tsukuyomi and Woz are… are gone. Are in their time, hopefully, because they were only ever supposed to be here until they were finished.

Until he was stopped.

But they were friends, and his uncle liked them, and they were always around…

Sougo had hoped that all of them – Geiz, Tsukuyomi, Woz, and his uncle – that they’d all be able to keep each other company after he was… gone. He wasn't supposed to make it back here, and they were, but they didn't. They got pulled back to the future (he hopes), and he didn't die like he was intended to, and now he doesn't know what to do with himself.

At least he's being given the time to decide.

Heh. Time. That didn't matter, for almost a year. He could, technically, go any when he wanted. He didn't, because that would have been an abuse of power, but he could.

But now there's no time mazines, no another riders, no riders at all, save for him.

He doesn't even know if the few watches he has still work.

Grand… he refuses to try. Doesn't want to risk it.

Trinity… same. If he finds out that it does work, if he pulls them to him through time and space again… that'd be awful, because he'd have to say goodbye all over again when the transformation ends. If it doesn't… then they're gone.

Zi-O II was always… touchy. It's powerful, but also he always felt odd using it – the future sight felt wrong, somehow.

So the only two watches he would dare try are Zi-O and the bike, and he hasn't touched them, save to keep them in his pockets, since the battle ended.

He keeps them with him, just in case.

Just in case.

The front door chimes, and uncle looks at him, concerned,

Shaking his head, Sougo gives a small smile. “Go on ahead. You've got a customer, maybe you'll even get a clock to fix this time, too.”

Uncle gives him a pat on the shoulder, and heads out front.

Sougo can't hear what they're saying, not really, but his uncle sounds… surprised, honestly. Like he didn't expect whoever it is. They must have actually had a clock.

About 10 minutes pass, with the indistinct voices from out front talking all the while, and Sougo's mind wanders.

––––

Sougo had told his uncle about being a Kamen Rider before he'd left… and then one and two made three, and he'd asked, when it was over, if Geiz and Woz were Kamen Riders too. He’d had to say yes, couldn't bring himself to lie and hide it. He'd also added that Tsukuyomi became a Rider, too, on that last day.

When he was asked if they survived… Sougo said they'd gone back to their time.

(He hopes they made it to a better one than they left.)

(Please.)

A week later, four and sixteen made twenty, and Uncle’d asked if the people who they'd brought through were Kamen Riders as well.

“…They were. Once upon a timeline.” Sougo smiled bitterly. “Until I became one. Then their pasts and powers all got stolen, and now half of the Kamen Riders never were in the first place, and the rest never can be again. All the watches, on that stand? Those were their powers, before I came along.” He tried to hold back the tears with a smile. “Some hero I was. Had to erase almost twenty years worth of other, better, heroes to be one.”

His uncle didn't have a reply for that. He just hugged him.

–––

They've been talking for a while, out there. Maybe it's a different clocksmith? There aren't any others in the area, as far as Sougo knows, since it's not exactly a big profession…  oh well.

“Sougo-kun?” His uncle steps into the doorway. “You'd said that some of the other Kamen Riders didn't remember being such, right?”

Sougo looks away. “Yeah. Pretty much everyone I met before January, except for Kadoya Tsukasa. Most of them never came here.”

“One did, though, and he seems very intent on talking to you.”

“…Huh?” That gets him to look up. Why would- before January, they wouldn't remember being riders, and probably shouldn't remember he exists, much less remember having met him. “Did he say his name?”

“Ten… something.” Uncle grimaces. “Sorry, I'm bad with names, it's already slipped my mind…”

“Ten... Tenkuji, you mean? Tenkuji Takeru?”

Uncle beams. “That's it!”

He hadn't remembered. Couldn't have remembered, it was before the paradoxes started piling on top of each other so badly… Except…

When Tsukuyomi had taken off, for a while, she'd left her data pad, the one with the histories on it. Sougo'd copied them all down, each and every one. Even if they didn't remember, someone needed to.

He filled three notebooks with every detail he could, and then with what he'd done.

Miharu and Geiz had thought it was a terrible idea, but… someone needed to remember for them.

Tenkuji-sempai had been 'Kamen Rider Ghost'. He'd been 'Ghost' for a reason, and he'd seemed a little too familiar with what happened to Sougo that day.

Sougo goes to the storefront.

There he is, brown hair and a kimono hoodie, grinning nervously. “Hey, kouhai. Long time, no see.”

…Kouhai. Okay, yeah, he's older than Sougo, but.

What?!

“I, uh. hi. Yeah… that is…”

Tenkuji's grin loses a little of it's nervousness, and he looks like he's trying for reassurance. “We know. We all know. We're sorry, we had to let you think we forgot, because… ugh, something about cause and effect, and predetermined events and, honestly, Ryotaro and Yuuto's explanations went way over my head, and Tsukasa's weren't much better. But we never forgot, okay?”

“You – you remember. All of it?”

“We've always been Kamen Riders, and we always will be.” Takeru's smile is warm. “And we'd like to invite you to a thing.”

Uncle butts in. “So, you are one of them?”

Takeru nods, bowing formally for a proper introduction. “Tenkuji Takeru, Kamen Rider Ghost. I was mostly active from 2015 to 2016, and now it's whenever my juniors need help.” He smiles. “Nice to meet you again!”

“You said you wanted Sougo to come to something?”

“Mm-hm. We've started having gatherings, about a year and a half ago, now, and we'd appreciate it if you could come.” He says the last part to Sougo, before turning to both of them. “It's mostly riders and support, and families, too. But… it can get a little overwhelming, and we thought it'd be a better idea if you, er, Mr. Tokiwa, that is, would be willing to wait until the next one? If Sougo comes back – there's no obligation to, of course, but we'd at least like to fill him in, first.”

Uncle grins. “I'd love to.” He makes little shooing motions at Sougo and Takeru. “Go, have fun, stay safe. You know how I worry.”

Swallowing hard, Sougo nods. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

––––

“D'you still have your bike? Because you can ride along on mine if you need to, but it'll be easier if you have your own. The Ghostriker isn't really… made for two people.”

Sougo looks up and down the spectral-themed bike. “I'd say so. You really went all out with the theming, huh?”

“Well, it used to be possessed by a horse spirit, I think, whenever I transformed, but I had it modified a year ago to always look like this. If the eyes glow, it's haunted. Fair warning.”

“That's really cool. I've still got what was my bike, but… I don't know if it still works.” Sougo pulls out the watch, looking down at it. “Never really used it much, honestly. Mostly used the time machines to get places. That kinda felt like cheating when it wasn't that far away, but since we'd have to time travel half the time anyway…” He hesitates. “I haven't tried using it since we finished. I don't know if I can transform, anymore, either. Does that disqualify me?”

“Heck no. A lot of people don't, not if they can help it, or can't for one reason or another. So, don't worry about it.”

Nodding, Sougo turns the faceplate on the watch, and it springs to action. He grins at seeing it again, and then his face falls. …I don't actually have a helmet.”

Takeru breaks out laughing. “You were always Zi-O when you used it, huh? Here.” He tosses a second helmet to Sougo. “Didn't know if you had a bike or not, so I grabbed an extra before I left.”

[narashikari]

An Analysis of the Phase 2 Main Riders’ Names

So, before, I made a post about the names of the two-in-one Riders, and it got me curious as to if everyone else’s names were significant in the same way. So, with a little help from Wikitionary, Google Translate and the Kamen Rider wiki (for the kanji in each Riders’ name), I looked at what each of the names mean and if they had any significance to the story arcs in the show. Buckle up ‘coz it’s gonna be a long one....

HIDARI SHOUTARO 左    翔太郎

Shoutaro’s last name is an obvious allusion to him being the left side of W. The first kanji of first name, aside from being a homophone for the kanji in Ishinomori’s first name, means “to fly, to soar”, while the last two is a typical suffix for a boy’s name.

Fittingly, the last form W receives is CycloneJokerGoldXtreme, which is formed from the complete unity of Shoutaro and Philip- emphasizing their growth as partners in the series- and also from Fuuto, the city they love and protect, empowering them with her wind. And of course, CycloneJokerGoldXtreme gives W wings. 

Even better? This proves that Shoutaro doesn’t need to be alone to reach his full potential. And he doesn’t have to change who he is, either. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. To live up to his name (literally), he should stay the exact way he is... and he should have Philip by his side. 

PHILIPフィリプ/ SONOZAKI RAITO 園咲　来人

As explained in the series itself, Philip’s name is derived from Narumi Sokichi’s favorite character, Philip Marlowe, the main character of Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye (as well as various other works), who is a detective. Beyond that, there’s not much significance to the name itself. The name does mean “lover of horses”, and as stated in this post, being a motorcycle rider is as close as one gets in the modern era. Kinda.

His real name, however, is quite interesting. “Sonozaki” means “garden of blossoms”. Which, on the surface, is pretty ironic because he’s a self-described devil, while the rest of the family are literal monsters and the villains of the season. But, it’s also quite fitting because a garden needs proper tending to achieve its true beauty- which is exactly what happened to Philip. He became the best version of himself because he had someone like Shoutaro caring for him. While his sisters, who only had Ryubee, withered away.

His first name, Raito, means “person who comes”- i.e., a person who comes back to his partner, no matter what. Nothing stopped him from coming home to his true family- not his blood family taking him away, nor the doubts his mother plant, nor death itself. 

HINO EIJI 火野　映司

“Hino” means “field of flames”. Already, his link to Ankh, who is affiliated with fire (TaJaDor is red and themed after a phoenix, after all), is established. But more than that, the name becomes ironic for Eiji himself- because, as stated in the series itself, the one thing Eiji lacks is a desire of his own. And what element is usually linked to desire? 

Fire, of course. So it’s fitting that in the finale, when he remembers what his desire is- to help everyone whose hand he can reach- the last form he ends up using is TaJaDor. Ankh’s form. 

(Also, yes, that is also the surname of a certain Sailor Scout. Are they related? Hmmm...)

The kanji for Eiji means “to reflect” and “to rule over”, respectively. It’s an allusion to how Eiji is a mirror image of the King, the previous OOO. The King was a selfish despot who wanted power for the sake of ruling over everything; Eiji wants nothing and is selfless to almost a fault, and even forsakes his political family. Even in Zi-O, where he does become a politician, he’s still kind and wants only what is good for the Japanese people. 

KISARAGI GENTARO 如月　弦太郎

You might notice that the kanji for “moon” is present in Gentaro’s last name. The kanji that precedes it means “likeness, to seem, as if”. So... it’s as if Gentaro is the moon itself. Which is rather fitting for a Rider whose home base is on the moon and is themed after space. It also forms a nice pair with Kengo’s last name, Utahoshi (歌星), which has the kanji for “star”. What do you mean you don’t ship it 

His first name, however, is rather peculiar. The first kanji means “bowstring” and is also used to refer to stringed instruments (when combined, oddly enough, with the first kanji of Kengo’s surname). In Chinese, it could mean “crescent”- another moon reference- so that might be closer to the actual meaning.

SOUMA HARUTO 操真　晴人

So, funny story. When I plugged Souma into Google Translate, it was set to read for Chinese rather than Japanese- and the English meaning came out as “fucking”. I bet the Chinese subbers were at a loss as to how to explain why Wizard’s real name is a curse word. 

Anywaaaaays, Souma actually has a way more morbid meaning in Japanese! The first kanji especially- when combined with certain other kanji, it could mean “to control”. And the latter kanji means “truth”. When I plugged them both into Translate, it came out as “manipulation”... which describes what the White Wizard/Wiseman was doing to him to a T. 

However, the individual kanji themselves are quite benign. The first kanji, by itself, means “faith”, “fidelity” “chastity” and “honor”, which are all virtues, just as “truth” is. Surely, as a Kamen Rider, Haruto has all of these. 

His first name means “a person who clears up (the weather)”. Or, in his case, clear the skies of an eclipse that will turn even more people into Gates. Not to mention, Haruto is the Magician of Hope- and clear, sunny skies are associated with positive emotions... such as hope!

KAZURABA KOUTA 葛葉　紘汰

So.... Kazuraba means “mulberry leaf”. Which is a pretty odd name to give to a fruit-themed rider. Mulberry leaves are known as the favorite food of silkworms. The irony of a man being named after a leaf whose claim to fame is being overfed to larvae becoming a fruit-themed god is rather hilarious. However, the first kanji alone does mean “creeper”, i.e. vines... like the Helheim plants!

His first name is... somehow the most nonsensical thing I have come across. Pasting the whole thing into Translate spat out “moth” (i.e. what silkworms become... ironically enough), while looking up the individual kanji makes no sense- the first kanji doesn’t mean anything, it’s just a given name... while the second one means “to scour”. Whaaaaat?

Gaim’s name makes about as much sense as the season, I guess.

TOMARI SHINNOSUKE 泊　進ノ介

So, the kanji itself actually means “night”, but when read as Tomari, it’s just a surname. It was chosen mainly because it’s a pun on 止まれ (tomare) or “stop”. Of course, as a police officer and Kamen Rider, he’s stopping bad things from happening... 

But also, he’s a car themed rider. His main form and his Rider machine, a car (which becomes the armor for his final form) are red. What color does red represent on traffic lights? Stop. Tomare. Tomari. Get it?

For his first name, what really matters is the first kanji since the last two is a generic suffix for boy’s names. That first kanji means “to advance, to make progress”. And if that isn’t his entire character arc in a nutshell, I don’t know what is.

Shinnosuke starts out Drive as a lazy, basically exiled former elite due to his demotivation over what happened to his partner Hayase and his demotion. His father’s death still haunted him despite how long it had been. However, when Belt-san and Kiriko recruited him to be Drive, he was able to get back into “top gear”, as he’d say. He got over the guilt of what happened to Hayase, he solved his father’s case and laid him to rest. Eventually, he moved past all his ghosts and regained his status as an elite police officer... and he moved on to form his own family with Kiriko.

TENKUUJI TAKERU 天空寺　タケル

Takeru’s last name means “sky temple”, which is quite fitting for the owner of Daitenku Temple... which is literally just Tenkuuji with the word for “big” in front of it.  Of course, it also fits with Takeru being Ghost, since... well, he’s dead for the majority of his series. The Great Eyecon also usually appears in the sky as a sort of heaven stand-in.

(Which, in turn, explains why Takeru has this angelic sub-theme to him. In the OP, his precious people are represented as feathers. Then when he gets his final form, it debuts with him surrounded in pure white feathers to go along his white suit and glittery helmet with rainbow horn.)

Takeru’s name is interesting because it’s written in katakana, not kanji like everyone else before him. The wiki actually says Takeru is the first ever title Rider to have this distinction*. It also makes it damn near impossible to know what his name actually means, since Wikipedia lists five different individual kanji and at least ten two-word kanji that could be read as Takeru. 

Although, given his status as a Rider and how his dad was a general bamf, it most likely stood in for 武, meaning “warrior”, or a derivative thereof. Seeing as this kanji is also in the word 武士, which means “samurai”, and that the Luminary most loyal to Takeru is (Miyamoto) Musashi, a famous samurai, it fits.

*Philip’s was written in katakana, but it wasn’t a Japanese name to begin with, so it would be written in katakana regardless and thus doesn’t count.

HOJO EMU 宝生　永夢

So the first kanji in Emu’s surname has a bunch of different meanings, but it basically boils down to “(something) valuable”. The second kanji, likewise, also has various meanings, among which is “life”. And together, they describe Emu perfectly: it fits with his beliefs that every patient’s life is precious.

However, it becomes ironic when one considers how little Emu values his own life. He often fought to his breaking point, and even maimed himself even in the Gorider special... then there’s the implication of him committing suicide as a boy...

His first name, on the other hand, means “eternal dream”. Put together with his last name, and you get a pretty good description of who Emu is as a person and why he ended up in the profession he did.

KIRYUU SENTO 桐生　戦兎/ KATSURAGI TAKUMI 葛城    巧  

Sento’s last name, as explained in the series, was derived from the name of a barbershop Evolt just happened to see. The two kanji together doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a common last name (for example, Sento shares this with Kyouryuger’s Daigo, aka King). Also explained in the series is how Sento’s name is derived from Rabbit Tank, only in reverse, as an amusing joke to Evolt. It emphasizes how Evolt saw Sento as a war machine first, and a living creature second.

(Not to mention, it’s actually one of our first hints that Souchi isn’t who he seems to be- why would he name Sento after Rabbit Tank if he supposedly gave Sento his name before he trusted him enough to wield the Build Driver? Honestly I don’t know why I didn’t figure it out sooner!)

But. Sento, in actuality, is Katsuragi Takumi, right?

So, the first kanji in Katsuragi is actually the same as in Kazuraba, just with an alternate pronounciation, while the second means “castle”. Or in the Japanese context, “fortress”. So... a “fortress of vines”? It does describe his creepy (pun intended) yet closed off personality quite well. Takumi, on the other hand, means “clever, skillful”. Pretty self-explanatory, given that both he (as himself and as Sento) and his parents are pretty dang smart.

TOKIWA SOUGO 常磐　ソウゴ

“Tokiwa” literally means “a rock that doesn’t change over time”, but figuratively means “eternity”. Of course, this is a reference to him being the eternal king (if Woz had his way), and the eternal Rider, the only one who stood the test of time, as the rest of the Heisei Riders have been lost to history. Additionally, it’s a pun of 時 (toki, ”time”), 時計 (tokei, “clock/watch”) and 時は* (toki wa, “time is”). 

“Sougo”, like Takeru, is in katakana, meaning it can lend itself to a variety of meanings. Unlike Takeru’s name, which is a popular boy’s name, Sougo’s is unusual enough that it doesn’t have a list of commonly used kanji for names. When I looked it up, the words and meanings Google gave me were all over the place. 蒼梧 means “firmiana simplex” (a kind of tree), 双​互 means “reciprocal”, 齟齬 means “discrepancy, conflict”, 総悟 (which is the name of a Gintama character... portrayed by Kamen Rider alum Ryo Yoshizawa... alongside Masaki Suda...) is a riff off a famous samurai’s name. 

This uniqueness may be an allusion to his unique position as a Rider: not only is he a Rider able to use the power of all the Heisei Riders, including his own allies’ powers. He is also the final Rider of the Heisei era, and the first of the Reiwa era. 

Edit: as pointed by @kr-shinkuu, Tokiwa Sou is also the name of the place Ishinomori lived in!

[des-shinta]

What would you rate each movie wars from good to bad(or from most to least favorite) and why?

Not yet seen Heisei Generations so that’s not on the list.  Heard good things, but I’m waiting on a translation that doesn’t localize the dialogue when you are not supposed to perform a localization on Freaking subtitles.This is also pretty brief as..well, it’s a tumblr reply, so doesn’t get all my feelings on the films or every single thing I find good or wrong with them, just a general impression and a few things that make me like/dislike what’s in it.  

Buuuut I’ll be releasing reviews on movie war 2010 and Core later this year as part of my all-encompassing coverage of W that I’m actually working on editing this month.  my words on them are pretty consistent with what’s going to be said on that, just expanded there as opposed to here.1: Movie war megamax.The thing here is…I like everybody in this, and it ADVANCES everybody in this in some way, either from W calling back to when he met OOO, or the Fourze gang making reference to what Fourze originally was going to be about, or, for the ONLY time in Heisei Kamen Rider do the Original showa Riders come back, and not end up crapped on by a shitty event.  Plus, they all get to show themselves as competent fighters in this modern age too, against a modern fan-favorite antagonist organization that is shown that Even the Showa riders, who decimated every incarnation of Shocker (Outside of chatastrophically bad idiot plots) are having difficulty with Foundation X’s cells.  EIji, Ankh and Hina get good moments in the OOO’s portion that cap their relationship and put Eiji on his journey to mend Ankh that he now knows he will succeed in if he perseveres, Gentaro’s interaction with nadeshiko is sheer adorableness, and I Nadeshiko became the second Female kamen Rider to Actuall survive.  Yeah, she was captures to the movies’ villain could use her power and had to lose her physical form for a while, but at least we knew she wasn’t actually dead, which was only later confirmed by utlimatum…as bad a movie that Ultimatum actually is.2: Sengoku movie warThis one is good again for reasons similar to Megamax, proper closure for the returning hero group of Wizard (And an actual moral to it about letting go, fuck Kamen Rider Taisen), while the Gaim half has an interesting adventure playing into Gaim’s long game; so when you look back on this movie you realize there was a lot of narrative foreshadowing present in it.  Plus, Bujin gaim as a central antagonist for the teamup was a good one due to his dark mirror aspects of what Kouta could become on accident, especially since he facilitated interaction between Kouta and Haruto in the downtime of the movie, which even Megamax didn’t really allow to happen, as the one scene with Shotaro, Phillip, Eiji and Gentaro as more business talk than really getting to know one-another.  And Haruto Getting his new infinity ring fixed another narrative screwup from the end of Wizard itself.Hell, speaking of Wizard’s side…SHUNPEI ACTUALLY FREAKING DID SOMETHING!3: Movie war Full throttleI find it the weakest of the ‘good’ Movie wars due to some narrative hiccups and Drive’s portion and it’s ‘ultimate’ mystery being kind of weak, but Drive’s side is heavy on backstory for Krim and his pre-drive actions, while seeding a few later things seen in the series; plus Lupin is kind of a fun antagonist.  Gaim’s side?  The first signs of Mitzuzane actually having worked towards the redemption the exact end of Gaim set him on, Dragon energy arms Ryouma is glorious and good closure for a conflict Gaim again didn’t resolve between him and TakaTora(Batta), and we get to see that even with the powers of a god, Kouta is not all-powerful as the borg/Reaper-like machinoid threat is enourmous.  While there aren’t as good interactions in the downtime of the film as the Sengoku movie war, at least they gave Shonisuke and Kouta two moments to interact, one in the midst of the final battle that was naturally precipitated from both early stories (”I’m a Space god…I think.”), and the finalizing gratitude once it’s all done were good endcaps, alongside the implication at the end of the film of Kouta and Mai, Despite their Divine state and duty to watch over the helheim so it doesn’t run rampant again doesn’t mean they can’t visit their friends and loved-ones.The only real bullshit moment of it then, is the movie powerup cross-state forms coming the hell out of nowhere.  Just…why?  You already had the Lupin Gunner and Dragon energy arms as new collectibles to sell, Type fruits and Drive arms were kind of dumb.4: movie war 2010First movie has problems, but W’s half and it’s importance in culminating the first arc of W’s story and how that plays into the greater series hold it up immensely, whereas Decade’s side…feel’s like a rush job since we know they cannibalized what was originally going to be decade episode final into something completely different.  I think it’s okay, as it does give proper closure to Decade’s story that the TV show should have done, but there’s a lot wrong with Decade’s side.I’ll give it this, The final movie war portion where Decade teams with W?  That is the first Time Tsukasa has encountered a Rider that doesn’t want to or Tries to kill him.  it really informs why character-wise that Tsukasa would prefer to work with the Neo-heisei Rider’s after this; they weren’t necessarily jackasses to him, character-assassination being behind the cause or no.Ultiamtely Movie war 2010, when both sides are accounted for isn’t actually bad, but with Decade holding it back it’s not particularly good either.  Watch for W’s side.5: movie war Core.ALL of the bad movie wars have the same problem; a lack of involvement from the writers of the show involved in the event.  While Riku Sanjou AGAIN salvages this movie with W’s half and it’s exploration of Soukichi Narumi, OOO’s portion and the actual teamup are utter write-offs as they’re by Toshiki Inoue…and they make absolutely no damn sense.  While there is a way to Fir the Nobunaga story into OOO’s timeline by setting it’s events to occur in the background of majority of the series–starting in the single digit episodes and then concluding in the late 30′s continuity-wise–it’s an extreme headache to even try and figure that, since it has to sync with W’s timeline, and That can only be allowed to happen approximately a year after the final battle, since Phillip was effectively dead for around 9 months.  Setting it over a extended length of time to conclude near OOO’s end then also answers how the hell the Dinosaur Greeed and his Yummy are active, but you really shouldn’t need to do that kind of ‘it’ll make sense later’ kind of thing in a story that out-of-nowhere introduces those things.  Which was kind of the same damn problem with Ryuki Episode final, to show that Inoue when writing something for a Kobayashi series has learned nothing.  Or maybe it was done to spite her since the two don’t like each-other and she’s derisive of His father’s body of work. (Inoue’s Dad wrote a majority of Showa Kamen Rider)Not helped that Eiji Spends the majoirty of the film out-of-character, acting like a dumbass, and shoved to the side in what was supposed to be his own story, so Toshiki Inoue can write a ‘what-if’ story about Nobunaga Oda being resurrected in the modern era…and it’s in no way interesting.  And the final teamup is just…dumb, as things seem to happen in it for no reason.6: Movie war UltimatumHi, we’re introducing a modernized depiction of former heroes, and have set them up as the ulimate villains of this entire event.  To anyone who was a fan of these characters, Fuck you!  This was written by the guy behind Carranger that means it’s going to sell!…No seriously, the guy who wrote Carranger wrote this movie, no-one on the main shows was involved, and it SUUUUUCKS as a result as the guy is a TERRIBLE writer.  The ‘villains’ are all characters he wrote for too their original shows, which makes that all the more egregious.  The Poitrine plot of Wizards half was utterly stupid and a waste of time, and while the Fourze part isn’t entirely dumb, it showcased a series of actions that no-one at toei is going to respect or Acknowledge (Outside of this one scene in Taisen Z Where NEW!Inazuman inexplicably shows up) since they destroy the Fourze Driver in that sect of the film, but Since Fourze KEEPS APPEARING in Heisei stuff since it’s past the point in time of that destruction, no-one’s going to acknowledge that.  They intentionally put into place a contradiction that no-one is ever going to answer.  And the end-of-film teamup is just magnitudes of bullshit.7: Movie war Genesis:RETCONNED OUT OF EXISTENCE!  IT NEVER HAPPENED.  It suffers the same problem as Ultimatum, the guy behind it DIDN’T WORK ON OR WATCH either series involved.  Once again it’s a time travel plot, but things here all just fall into the heroes laps even though it outright contradicts material in the series.  All of the Drive gear was locked up By Krim?  Oh, suddenly Gou has not only his bike and Mach Driver, but a spare and deadheat so Shinosuke can transform.  Oh, they got sent back to the past?  They find Krim in a Bush.  Krim?  What are YOU doing here?  The rationale for the Roidmude resurrection?  never explained as they are FREAKING ROBOTS.  At least when Drive Saga 2 did that, they explained it as recovering Scattered roidmude data from their remains.  The renaissance Ganma?  their existence and plan contradicts what’s later explained about the Ganma?  Toucon Boost, and the way Takeru’s Dad Died?  Contradiction.  Drive Type zero?  Contradiction, and a big one due to how Protodrive functions.  The Shinosuke/Kiriko Wedding?  Contradiction and then later RETCONNED in the Mach Saga novels, as you don’t go from dating to wedding in the span of less than two freaking months.  Oh, we see sight of Nekrom at the end of the film?  Alan didn’t finish building that gear until around episode 16.  Just…FUCK THIS MOVIE!  AS Bad as Ghost Got due to it being screwed over, it struggled to get this bad in any individual episode that this one just had happen naturally.

[gokaihearts35]

My top of Kamen Rider Heisei

Here is my list of Kamen Rider series that I've seen.

Before I had only seen super sentai but I decided to start seeing Kamen Rider, I started by Kuuga and went in chronological order. The Top is in order of the series that I liked more for the series that I liked less, the series that are in the last positions do not mean that I did not like it, I just liked less but until today I have not seen a series that I found bad.

1) Gaim - Probably the best-written Kamen Rider series, with multiple twists and complex characters, even Kouta not being one of my favorite characters, and some Riders could be better used or Mai who was not one of the best female characters, but Central plot made me love the series, every episode happened something and everyone was surprisingly great, even enjoyed the end, I know it was controversial, but it made perfect sense with the story. The series may not have had some of the most charismatic protagonists but all the complexity of various characters and their various twists and turns made this series one of the most fun to watch Mitchy was one of Kamen Rider's most well-written character, I liked his development and even liked the end of it, he having to learn to live with what he did and everyone treating him well, even though he thought he did not deserve it, Takatora was a Good character I liked the end of it, because Kouta bringing him life to take care of Mitchy makes perfect sense, it would be something that Kouta would do, Ryoma was a very nice and complex character, Yoko was very charismatic But the character had some problems in the way she was written, all the fact that her goal was to follow The king of the world and his inexplicable attraction to Kaito that while it was fun was also a very confusing character and in the end it seemed that he liked to lose to Kouta, in fact individually He and Kouta were not very good characters, what made them great and fun to see was how Were related and how each influenced the other, surprisingly Zack even though not appearing much was one of my favorite characters in the series, the Over lords in the end were not important, but it was a good thing because what was important in the series was the relationship of human characters to each other, their ideological struggles that mattered. The series while not having villains or the more charismatic protagonists had one of the most engaging and complex story and that's why I enjoyed it so much.

2) Drive - In the beginning I did not expect to like the series so much, but from the twenty began a series of episodes that made her become one of my favorites, Shinnosuke was a good protagonist, I loved the whole story that had about his father , I did not expect to like Go and Chase so much when I started the series, but all his developments were great and Go at the end of the series that looked like the real hero, his whole story with Banno was great, the Roidmudes to my surprise as the Series developed were very nice characters and their deaths were very sad but good scenes. What really surprised me was how much I liked the Special Investigation Unit, I did not expect to like them so much, even though there were several comedy scenes they had, they also had several exciting scenes, they became some of my favorite supporting cast by Kamen Rider.

3) Agito - One of my favorite series, it's like an improved version of Kuuga, Shouichi is one of my favorite protagonist of Kamen Rider, of course all the other characters are great too, Hikawa and Ashihara are great characters, even though Ashihara Only bad thing happened to him in the series, everyone who approached him died. The series until it took a long time to really start, but starting from episode twenty she became great and that's where it really started , Made me like the series was their complex characters and how they acted, the police while it was not as good as Kuuga had Ozawa who was a great character and loved his scenes with Hojo, he was a character that several times I hated , But in the end I even liked the character (it was a well written version of Kusaka) I liked that at the end of the series it was implied that he stayed with Ozawa, Mana was surprisingly charismatic and I liked her and her scenes. I do not have much to talk about anymore I just loved the show.

4) Ryuki - The war between the Riders made this series one of my favorites, Shinji, Ren, Kitaoka, Asakura were great characters, very charismatic and all the other characters had their own motives to fight, it was a series that Which relied heavily on the relationship between the characters, even with a confusing ending that did not explain several things I really liked the series, the end of Yui was very sad, she was one of the best female characters in the franchise, of course there are the reporters, they were useless, Reiko should To have discovered about the war well before, but in the end she and the others were of no avail. Even with some problems in the end, thanks to their complex characters (Asakura were not quite complex, but did not need to be) and their bittersweet finale made this series one of my favorites.

5) OOO - I loved the series, the relationship of Eiji and Ankh was great, the development they have made it my favorite double of Kamen Rider. Data and Goto were also a good pair, I loved the Greeds and the message of the series, Hina even not appearing much I liked her scenes with Ankh and her doubts about what to do. Even without a great story the characters made me love the series, mainly because of Ankh.

6) Kiva - I loved the series, even with some problems it had in history, I think people exaggerate when they talk about their defects, of course the Arm Monsters should have had more prominence. The characters of the past were more charismatic than the present: Otoya, Jiro, Yuri and Maya are the best characters in the series, the relationship between them must have been one of the most complex of the franchise, the characters of the present did not have the same charisma And development than those of the past but I did not expect Taiga to become such a good character in the series, he had a good development. The time travel was not as bad as people speak, it was important for Wataru's development and gave good scenes. I was saddened by Mio's death, but it was important for the development of Wataru and Taiga (I hope she will be revived in the future), I thought there was missing an episode about Taiga's relationship with Shima. I felt sorry for Yuri, she was much better than her daughter, I really did not like Megumi, but Maya was also a great character, actually Maya and Yuri were the best characters in the series. The love triangle of the past was fun, I loved Yuri's conversations with Maya about love, for example, Maya's scene asking why Yuri would save Otoya after he betrayed her feelings, Yuri then tells her that she loves him, that This is love, which makes Maya think what love is; The scene of Yuri ending with Otoya and the last scene of both interacting are some of my favorites in the series. Yuri and Maya have the best development of the series, so they are my favorite characters of the series.

7) Blade - The Kamen Rider series with one of the best finals, Kenzaki and Hajime were good characters, their development was great, Tachibana and Mutsuki were sometimes annoying but not terrible characters, they had their moments and good development, I liked it Of the central story of the series, the war to become the dominant species, the series did not have a great villain but did not need, what was important was the relationship of the characters to each other, even being a very simple series, but with its grand final made the Series be great and without many flaws.

8) Kuuga - The series looked more like a police drama than a children's series of super heroes, Godai was a great protagonist, his relationship with Ichijo was great, one of the best pairs of Kamen Rider, of course all the other characters are also well Developed, all the cops are great characters, the Gurongi had some really macabre and heavy scenes, it was like watching a police series fighting against serial monsters killers, but I still did not like the end of the series, N-Daguva-Zeba was not a character The series did not have a complex story, but it did not need to, the cases against the Gurongi were great,and it was the characters that carried the series, all are great and With their own stories and developments.

9) Faiz (555) - Takumi and Kiba were great characters and had a great relationship, the Orphonochs Rouge Were many charismatics, in fact the relationship between the characters in the series is quite entertaining, even with some misunderstandings, Kusaka must have been one of the characters that I most hated of the franchise Mihara was not important, practically an extra.Even with a bad end, with no sense of termination, I loved the series because of the various characters that I found very charismatic.

10) Ghost - I liked the series more than I was expecting, of course there are several problems, such as the search for the Eyecons that was initially very fast, the ghosts they needed to be real characters, they needed more attention, Being in the series, Makoto should have a bigger importance in the end because of the Deep Specter Ghost Eyecon. I felt that something was missing in the story, but even with these problems I liked the series, Akari is a great female character, the series is never stopped, there is always something that changes the status quo, the development of Makoto and Alain are great , They make the series worth it, I really enjoyed the World of Gamma and the message of the series, I liked the Gammaizers and how they behaved like a computer, I liked that in the series almost everything had a logical and scientific explanation. Even with several problems I really liked the series

11) W - Shotaro and Philip are great characters and have one of the best relationships to each other in Kamen Rider, but the series has Akiko one of the most annoying female characters in the franchise, the Sonazaki Family were good characters, but I have to admit that they are not some of my favorite villains, what happened , felt that something was missing, it does not help that the Foundation X steals their role as final villains of the series, but the last scene of them family until it was exciting, the Cases of the week that were the highlight of the season, About Philip coming back to life while it seems meaningless, i liked it since Shotaro was so sad, it seemed even that a part of him was missing and gave a good last scene of the Sonazaki family, and Wakana deserved this scene for his development to give a perfect circle.

12) Kabuto - The series has good characters, Kagami and Tendou were good characters, I liked their relationship and how they developed, especially Kagami, but the series has several problems in the script, the disappearance of Hiyori, the little use of Daisuke, he does not even appear in the final stretch, the little importance of KickHopper and PunchHopper that in addition to useless comedy scenes they were not important in the story, they did not even fight in the last episodes, Tsurugi also ended up turning comic relief, they ignore for quite a long time the fact that he was a Worm, but even so I still liked the character and his relationship with Misaki and his last episodes were great, Kagami's father should have appeared more. While I admit that the series has several problems in the script, I quite enjoyed practically all the characters and their developments.

13) Den-O - I liked the series, it was fun and funny, but it had a terrible ending, the villain did not make sense (who was Kai?), Ryotaro and the Imagins are not some of franchise's favorite characters,the best of the series was Yuto, one of the best secondary Rider, all his history, development and his relationship with Airi were great, including had one of Kamen Rider's best movies: Episode Red: Zero on Star Twinkle.

14) Wizard - The series while it was had many cases of the week and the villains were very disappointing always failing,it seemed that history did not progress, always remained in the same status quo and also the bad use of Mayu, Wiseman and his story that could have appeared before, I really liked the characters and their relationship with each other , even though they were all useless,me like more of the series than other series that I found objectively better.

15) Fourze - While having a good story and well developed, I could not really like the characters, the Kamen Rider Club while legal was a bunch of useless characters who did nothing and most of the time were extras, the series is good but not did not make me care much.

16) Decade - The series while had many problems in the story and several times did not make sense, I have to admit that the four protagonists had a great relationship and in my opinion Tsukasa and Natsumi had one of the best relationship and chemistry between male and female protagonists in a Kamen Rider series, which usually does not do female characters well.

17) Hibiki - It was a good series with some charismatic characters, Asumu was the true protagonist of the series, Kiriya was an important character for the development of Asumu, I liked that in the end Asumu did not become an Oni, he wanted to make his own way, not Just imitate Hibiki. The series changed from episode 30, but not as much as people talk, Akira was put aside, she was a great character but lost her highlight in the series and the ending was a little disappointing, who were The Man and Woman? The series needed a central story, it was just character-centered episodes, should have a stronger central story

18) Amazons - First that even the episodes being larger were very slow, not much happened, in the end I felt that I did not discover anything about the company and the Amazons, was only focusing on the extermination group and the other characters without the necessary development, plus you can not understand how Haruka's head works. The series exaggerates in gore, But the central story of the series is a bit disappointing, if someone want to see a mature series, well written of truth and great personages I advise Kuuga.