#kamen rider odin

[magicaldogtoto]

Noticed on TV Tropes's page for Kamen Rider Ryuki that the only entry under Kamen Rider Odin's character sheet discussing his name origin (that of Odin of Norse myth) just says "He's named after a god, which rings true considering just how overpowered he can be."

This is true, but I'm here today to say that it goes so much further than that, which I've realized while reading/re-reading the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda.

In the Grimnismal, Odin in disguise as the titular Grimnir gives a list of his numerous names and titles. In particular, Grimnismal 48 has him list "Battle-Merry" and "Battle-Stirrer" as two of them. Both titles point to Odin being a god of battle/war, the latter indicating that he stirs up war. In Ryuki, Kamen Rider Odin is meant to be the Rider stand-in for Shiro Kanzaki, who instigates the Rider War. He notably does this by approaching different people and giving them their Advent Decks, thus stirring them to engage in battle with the other Riders.

One of Kamen Rider Odin's cards is also the Time Vent, which rewinds the events of the Rider War back to the start, erasing everyone's memories (though Shinji manages to hold on somewhat, as shown little more than halfway through the show). This effectively puts the Rider War in an endless loop of Riders fighting, dying, and coming back to life to fight again. Those vaguely familiar with Norse myth may have heard of Valhalla, and of the Einherjar. In Vafthruthnismal, the giant Vafthruthnir describes Valhalla's daily battle as this:

"All the Einherjar in Odin's hall fight each other every day. They kill each other, but then ride back from battle and sit in the evening as friends." (Vafthruthnismal 41)

Valhalla's battle is thus a cyclical one, in an endless loop until Ragnarok. In a way, you can call it one of the oldest examples of a battle royale like the Rider War, with the same fighters dying off only to be brought back to life to fight another day. The Rider War can even be seen to parallel Ragnarok, with how the ultimate end of the war is the winner's ability to rewrite the world as they see fit, much like how Ragnarok is meant to end with the destruction of all the gods, only for a new world to be born from it. Indeed, Odin's whole reason for having battles is to gather warriors for Valhalla--like how Shiro keeps engineering the Rider War for his own goals.

So yes, Kamen Rider Odin is a very appropriately named Rider...

[disaster666-catastrophe]

🪞⚔️⏪🪶

[adventofheroes]

Kamen Rider Ryuki-Crossover Ryuki Chapter 9 (Final)

Ryuki arrived outside of ORE Journal, there was just one thing he had to check. A reporter always knows to follow up any loose ends. He saw Tatsuya in the same spot. 

“Tatsuya!” Shinji said. 

“Ah yes, Shinji. How has your case been going?” Tatsuya asked. 

“I figured it out, its Odin or at least someone using Odin’s power. I just need to find him. I was hoping you could tell me anything.” Shinji said.

“Odin? Odin is gone. He doesn’t exist anymore.” Tatsuya said.

“Well if I use the card I found, it’ll lead me to whoever has been attacking the riders anyway..!” Shinji said. 

He took out his deck. 

“Wait… Shinji is that such a good idea? Let’s think about it before we try something.” Tatsuya said. 

“Henshin!” Shinji said as he transformed. 

He took out the card of the blue Rider from before. 

“Abyss? You have Abyss’ card?” Tatsuya asked. 

“Adobento!” his visor said. 

Then next Kamen Rider Abyss landed next to Tatsuya. 

“I had my suspicions, but I didn’t want to believe it,” Ryuki said. 

Tatsuya’s eyes darted towards Abyss, who awaited orders from his master. His face turned from a naive look to a more cold one. 

“Good work Ryuki,” Tatsuya said. 

Suddenly Tatsuya broke apart into mirror shards revealing himself as Odin. He then took out a card from his visor that read 

“Illusion Vent.” 

“Single-use but long-lasting enough to hide myself and who owned my cards, I didn’t expect you to keep your memories, however,” Odin said. 

Ryuki’s stance became more confident as he put his hands on his hips, “I’ve been through this before. I wrote everything down this time..!” 

“You were only supposed to stall and annoy the riders so nobody could figure out my plan in at least a day,” Odin said. 

“Were you ever really Ryuki?” Ryuki asked. 

“Little of what I told you was true. I tried to run away from Kanzaki, but he forced me into becoming Odin. And there I was a mindless puppet t-till I was….. Murdered! And why? Just so you Kamen Riders could fight. Pathetic. When the Time Vent happened, I really did fall through the cracks as I kept my memories. Gold Phoenix sought me out. Thus I became Odin once again, but this time I am the one who is in control. Abyss kill him.” Odin said. 

Kamen Rider Abyss charged forward as Ryuki threw a punch at him. Abyss was knocked back as Ryuki took out a card. 

“Freeze Bento!” 

Abyss became trapped in ice as Ryuki took out another. 

“Guardo Bento!” 

Ryuki charged forward with his DragShields and he broke through the ice destroying Abyss. 

“Alright..!” he said. 

Odin then floated in front of him hovering just above his head. 

“Ah yes, those new cards I gave you. I only gave them to you, so you wouldn’t die early. I’ll be taking those back now..” Odin said. 

Suddenly the three cards flew out from Ryuki’s belt back towards Odin. Ryuki tried to grab them, but they were too quick. Odin took out the Time Vent card. 

“Now let’s reset time and I’ll kill you yesterday. It messes with my plan a lot, but I’ll figure something out.” Odin said. 

“Final Bento!” 

Suddenly Knight flew down hitting Odin. An explosion covered the scene as the Time Vent card flew in the air dissolving into pieces. Knight glided out of the flames towards Ryuki. 

“Ren!” Ryuki said, “…thanks.” 

Knight nodded, “I can feel my memories from before coming back.” 

“I guess destroying the Time Vent card did that,” Ryuki said. 

Odin then walked out of the flames dazed, “No! My plan!” 

“Let’s stop fighting Tatsuya, you have no reason to,” Ryuki said. 

“Yes, I do! You Riders preyed on me, an innocent man! There’s no justice. I didn’t even have a pure wish when Kanzaki stole my lif! And my killers stand before me escaping punishment? I’ll kill you all!” Odin said. 

He then pulled out a bunch of Advent Cards, each one showed different monsters. 

“Adobento!” 

“Adobento!”

“Adobento!” 

“Adobento!”

“Adobento!” 

“Adobento!” 

“Adobento!” 

Ryuki and Knight were then surrounded by six different monsters. Each one Ryuki had seen before. The Owl Lord, the Falcon Lord, the Crane Orphenoch, the Bird Dopant, the Bee-Woman, and the giant four-legged monster Faiz was fighting. Behind them was an army of Shocker Grunts. 

“Time to prove yourself, Kido..” Knight said. 

Ryuki swallowed in nervousness. The four-legged monster charged first Knight jumped upward as Ryuki rolled out of the way, he turned around to see Knight was on top of the monster leaving Ryuki to fight the horde. Odin watched from above before teleporting. Suddenly Ryuki was slashed from behind him pushed forward towards the Crane. She smacked him backward. 

“Arghh!” Ryuki grunted. 

“What’s the matter Shinji? You heard the man, prove yourself! This was all about you wanting to impress the Riders!” Odin said as he laughed. 

The Bee Woman flew forward slashing Ryuki as he fell.

Those.. Cards.. I need them. If I didn’t survive the Rider War..

Ryuki tried to get up but was kicked by the Bird Dopant. 

“This is pathetic..get out your Survive card or something!” Odin said. 

Ryuki then pulled out the Survive card as flames erupted around him he stood up, then suddenly Odin teleported in front of him and slapped him knocking the Survive card out of his hands. It fell on the ground and Ryuki’s transformation was broken. Odin laughed. 

“You really are just a guy with a card deck,” Odin said. 

Shinji looked down grimly. 

I don’t want to die again..! They were right, I am weak..! 

Just then Shinji heard the familiar tune of the Den-Liner as it appeared behind him. Ichigo and Nigo jumped out kicked the Bee-Woman and the Bird Dopant back. 

“Ryuki!” said Ichigo. 

The other riders jumped out of the Den-Liner rushing into battle to fight the Shocker Grunts as Ichigo held out his hand towards Shinji. He pulled himself up. 

“Stand tall, you’re the one who led us here,” Ichigo said. 

Shinji saw as Den-O appeared nearby and slashed the Crane Orphenoch. 

“And we brought some reinforcements.” Momotaros’ said. 

“Rejoice!” Ryuki turned around as he heard the booming voice of the man with a book and scarf, “The overlord of time is here! Kamen Rider ZI-O!”

Decade and ZI-O jumped forward.

“So we use Ryuki’s power to beat this guy right?” the rider asked Decade excitedly.

“Right.” Decade said. 

“Kamen Ride Ryuki!” 

“Final Form Time Ryu-yu-yuki!” 

Shinji saw as the two Riders were clad in armor similar to his. He could tell that Odin was ready for them. Odin took out one of his cards as Decade used Strike Vent to attack him. 

“Sword Bento!” 

Odin teleported away and slashed Decade’s back with his twin swords. ZI-O dashed forward and clashed with Odin’s blades. Decade got up and jumped forward with a Rider Kick, in which Odin teleported behind ZI-O and pushed him into Decade’s kick! ZI-O was knocked back into his base form as he clutched onto a watch-looking device that had Ryuki on it. 

“You know last time I fought this guy it was a lot easier,” Zi-O said looking up at Decade. 

“Keep trying, he can’t teleport his way out of all my attacks.” Decade said. 

“I believe I can,” Odin said taking out another card. 

“Final Bento!” 

Odin then floated up laughing as he pointed at Decade. The Gold Pheonix burned brightly as it combined with Odin. He then flew down crashing into Decade and emerged unharmed. Both Decade and ZI-O were completely knocked out of their transformations once again. Momotaros stomped his foot on the ground. 

“Even with Ryuki’s power they still can’t beat him! He’s too fast!” Momotaros said. 

“All Kamen Riders that oppose me will die, clearly I cannot be stopped!” Odin said. 

“Ryuki.” Said Ichigo. 

Shinji looked up and saw Ichigo was looking at where the Survive card had landed.

“You should fight him,” Ichigo said. 

“But I can’t! I’m sorry, but all of this time I’ve been in over my head! I’m not a chosen one, a cyborg, or have any sort of superpowers. I really am just a guy with a card deck. A weak one too.” Shinji said. 

“Toh!” Ichigo said as he jumped over and grabbed the Survive card, “That’s not true!” 

“Listen, kid, you may have died but you’ve impressed me. I connected the dots you tricked me earlier!” Momotaros said. 

“Ryuki!” shouted Agito as he fought the Owl Lord, “You don’t have to be special to make a difference.” 

“Yeah, I’m just a man in an armor suit who doesn’t give up!” G3 said emptying out his gun. 

“A journalist isn’t the same as a detective, but you sure solved the case,” W said as he punched a Shocker grunt. 

“The sun isn’t always around, others can be a light as well,” Kabuto said dodging every attack his way. 

“You know sometimes it’s nice to just talk with a well-meaning humble guy like you Ryuki,” Gatack said. 

“You can’t live your life moping around,” Faiz said he flew firing at the 4-legged monster. 

“Ryuki..friend!” Amazon said. 

“We’re calling you to defeat evil!” Stronger said. 

“You can soar into a new tomorrow,” Skyrider said.

Faiz flew down and grabbed Knight dropping him off near the other riders. 

“Kido maybe you were brought back for a special reason,” Knight said. 

“I didn’t wanna admit this, but while I admit your fighting style is silly, but you have a different way of thinking that can turn the tables on the enemy. We need that about right now.” Decade said. 

“I’m like what you said, “just a kid too!” but I’ve met you in the future, your powers and heroics are well remembered!” ZI-O said. 

Shinji looked around at each of the riders as his spirit began to lift up, “Really everyone?” 

Ichigo pumped his fist, “We’re all just men, but at some point, we made the choice to become Kamen Ri-ARGGHHHH!” 

Ichigo then fell over as Odin had thrown one of his swords into his back. 

“That was a lot of riff-raff. Who does he think he is? Captain America?” Odin asked as he examined his other sword, “I hope I can get that cleaned.” 

Shinji grabbed Ichigo, “Kamen Rider..! Come on finish the sentence! Hang in there!” 

Weakly, Ichigo held out the Survive card. Shinji could almost feel tears in his eyes as he snatched the card and stood up. 

“Riders regroup!” shouted Momotaros.

Shinji stepped forward as he heard the jumps and running of the other Riders. He took out his Advent Deck as flames erupted behind him. He heard the transformations of Decade and ZI-O from behind him. His Advent Deck turned from black to red. Shinji moved his arm just like Ichigo. 

“Henshin!” he shouted. 

“Survive!” 

He stared at Odin as all of his monsters had regrouped as well.

“Wait! Wait!” an excited but familiar voice shouted. 

Ryuki turned around as he saw Kamen Rider Build running towards him down the street carrying cards. 

“Sorry I’m late, but Philip and I examined your cards and Decade’s cards, and well… I’m a genius!” he shouted jumping up with glee. 

Shinji then quickly slotted a card into his DragVisor Zwei as he heard something being thrown at him. 

“Gaurdo Bento!” 

DragRanzer flew down and protected him from another one of Odin’s sword strikes. Ryuki looked up. Odin’s hands were on his face as if he was bored. 

“Look I’m just tired of interruptions,” Odin said. 

Kamen Rider Build handed Shinji the cards, as Ryuki examined them each card were Advents and abilities of other Kamen Riders. 

“We got the idea from when you used Den-O’s sword the other day, and I couldn’t just help myself..!” Build said. 

Everyone really did believe in me, I was just thinking too much! He thought. 

“Thank you! Let’s try these cards!” Ryuki said as he grabbed them. 

Ryuki looked at his selection of cards and chose one that had Faiz on it, he then loaded it in. 

“Just attack already,” Odin said. 

“Shoot Bento!” 

Faiz’s gigantic gun from his Blaster form flew down into Ryuki’s hands as both riders and monsters charged forward. Ryuki fired the gun downward at three Shocker Grunts and the Crane woman, then upward towards Odin. Odin promptly teleported out of the way. Ryuki then loaded in another card, this with Den-O. 

“You’ll never be able to properly hit me.” Odin gloated. 

“Sword Bento!” 

Den-O’s sword fell into Ryuki’s hand as he slashed forward knocking back another group of Shocker Grunts. 

“Oh, I’m just having fun! For you don’t know my joy.” Ryuki said. 

Odin then teleported behind him and slapped him forward, however, Survive form proved more resistant to his attack. 

I need some way to distract him! 

Just then Gatack ran past him. 

That’s it! 

“Gatack.. Clock Up and fight Odin!” Ryuki said. 

Gatack nodded and activated Clock Up. 

“CLOCK UP!” 

Gatack then ran at super speeds at Odin, who then teleported once again away, however, Gatack quickly switched gears as he continued to chase after him. Odin was forced to constantly teleport out of the way. Ryuki heard him yawn. 

“You won’t be able to catch me,” Odin said. 

Ryuki then slotted in several cards. 

“Rider Adobento!” 

“Rider Adobento!”

“Rider Adobento!” 

“Rider Adobento!” 

Next Agito, Den-O, W, and Wizard were teleported doing their Rider kicks flying towards Odin. 

KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! 

There were multiple explosions but it was not enough to hit Odin, who then kicked Gatack away. 

“The area of effect isn’t large enough!” Ryuki said. 

“I feel like I can help with that,” ZI-O said holding a golden watch. 

“Grando Time! Grand ZI-O!” his belt said. 

 “I think I see your plan Ryuki.” Den-O said, “Kabuto! Faiz! Help Gatack!” 

Kabuto and Faiz nodded. 

“Start Up!” 

“CLOCK UP!”

“You’ve got ten seconds Ryuki!” Den-O said. 

Odin can handle one-speed Rider, but can he handle three? Ryuki thought. 

Kabuto and Faiz dashed forward and Odin was completely distracted this time.

“Alright now I’ll bring him down..!” ZI-O said. 

Ryuki watched as ZI-O pressed the statues of the other Riders all over his body including Ryuki’s. All of the main Heisei Riders (except for the ones chasing Odin) were now in the air ready to Rider Kick. They all came down like meteors as the explosions didn’t stop coming.

“Urghhhh!” Odin said. 

The smoke began to clear as Odin emerged. His armor was cracking and the golden colors had faded more, Ryuki felt like this indicated he was weak. Odin took out another card and slotted it in.

“Gaurdo Bento!” 

Odin then caught the shield as he put it up to protect himself. 

“This guy just doesn’t know when to stop,” Momotaros said crossing his arms.

Ryuki then noticed two other Rider Advent cards, they were of Ichigo and Knight. He felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned to see Ichigo. 

“Kamen Rider..? You were faking?” Ryuki asked. 

Ichigo laughed, “If there’s anything I’ve learned from you Heisei Riders, it’s how to be more dramatic!” 

Another hand on his other shoulder, “Kido, let’s go.” Knight said. 

Ryuki then jumped up slotting in the two cards, Ichigo and Knight appeared behind him as they all three jumped forward, their feet crashed into the shield as it broke, Odin was then hit.

The impact knocked him backward rolling onto the ground several feet away, yet he continued to stand up. 

“How could he withstand that?” Knight asked. 

Odin held up a single card, it read “Confine Vent.” 

“He must have slotted it in as we were kicking!” Ryuki said. 

“Rider Punch!” Ichigo said dashing forward. 

“Freeze Bento!” Odin’s visor said. 

Ichigo was then frozen, Odin then slotted in another card. 

“Clear Bento!” 

From the air, Knight was hit by Odin’s twin swords. He was knocked backward out of his transformation before appearing before Ryuki. 

“These new cards prove that you’re useless with your own power!” Odin said pointing at Ryuki. 

Ryuki paused for a moment. 

Could he be right?…No! He thought. 

Ryuki then laughed. 

“I’ve always been a formidable fighter, I understand that now. Besides everyone needs help sometimes!” he said taking out the Survive card from his DragVisor Zwei. Ryuki then reverted into his base form and kicked Odin away. Odin then charged back, fist forward, and let out a frustrated grunt. Ryuki quickly slotted in one of his cards. 

“Guardo Bento!” 

Ryuki then held up his DragShields and charged forward crashing into Odin. Splitting apart the shields, Ryuki then headbutted him, and then crouched downward slamming the shields onto his legs. He heard Odin grunt in pain as he kicked him again. Odin backed away holding his hand over his chest. Ryuki then took out his sword vent card and caught his sword, clutching it. 

“I-I-I can still teleport..!” Odin said. 

Ryuki could hear the desperation in his voice as he nodded. Golden feathers then fell in front of his face as he quickly turned around and slashed Odin. 

“ARGGGGHHHH!” Odin screamed again. 

“Strike when you see golden feathers!” Ryuki shouted. 

Odin was then on the ground, tired and weak. 

“Kill me. You Riders always wanted that.” Odin said. 

Ryuki stared at him, “I’ll never kill anyone Tatsuya. You’re just a guy who got mixed up in all of this.” 

“No!” Odin said, “I’ll die on my own terms then!” 

Odin disconnected his cracked deck and smashed it on the ground. Ryuki then heard the Golden Phoenix screech from behind him. It flew towards Tatsuya intending to eat him as the Contract had been ended. 

“No, you don’t!” Ryuki said. 

“Adobento!” 

DragRedder flew downward shooting a fireball at the Phoenix before opening its mouth to chomp upon the bird. 

“WHY?!” Tatsuya asked, “How could you let me live after all I’ve done?”

Ryuki turned around as he saw Ren picking up Tatsuya, “That’s just how Kido is. Now.. Get lost!” 

Ren threw him into a mirror forcing him to leave the Mirror World. Ryuki then looked at his arm as it was fading away. It was time for everyone to leave. Ryuki left with Knight and Ichigo. (The ice had cracked as soon as Tatsuya had left transformation.) Everyone boarded the Den-Liner. 

—————————————————

There was a massive Rider party aboard the Den-Liner. Ryuki sat at a table with Ren, Hongo, and Momotaros. Naomi served them coffee. In the background, the other Riders were dancing with the Imagin. 

“Thank you Naomi,” Shinji said smiling. 

“You’re welcome Shinji..!” she said winking at him. 

“I’ll pass,” Ren said. 

Naomi then gave him a mean glare. 

Shinji saw as Momotaros covered his mouth, “That’s right we never told her it was you and not Knight-jerk who refused her drinks.” 

Shinji sipped Naomi’s drink before spitting it out, “I accepted this time to be polite. Also, I have a date with her on Saturday.” 

Momotaros laughed, “Good luck Drag- Shinji!” 

Shinji then looked at his watch as his eyes widened, “I’m late for work!” 

“You know this is a time travel train right?” Momotaros asked. 

“Yes, but you always chose the wrong time..!” Shinji said. 

“Alright..alright,” Momotaros said. 

“I’m first this time?” Shinji asked. 

Momotaros nodded as he exited to another part of the train car. 

The train came to a halt as Shinji hopped off, Ren followed. 

“Ryuki!” Ichigo’s voice said from behind. 

Shinji turned around to see all of the other Riders waving goodbye. Shinji smiled as he waved goodbye. 

“I’m going back to Eri. See you around Kido.” Ren said as they went separate ways. Shinji composed himself and walked to the front door, but he heard someone beside him. He turned to his left to see Tatsuya holding out a cup of change. Shinji pulled out his wallet and gave him some money before stepping inside. 

If he had stayed a moment longer he would have heard Tatsuya say, “Thank you.. Ryuki.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epilogue

Shinji was sitting on the Den-Liner as Momotaros, Urataros, Kintaros, and Ryutaros all crowded around.

“So you can make Decade more cards based off of me..?” he asked.

“Certainly! We send him new cards all the time based off of the newer riders. ” Momotaros said.

Ryutaros covered his face, “Momo that’s supposed to be a secret!”

Urataros leaned into Shinji’s ear and said, “Sempaii isn’t the most efficient leader.”

“A secret is a secret!” Kintaros declared.

“SHUT UP!” Momotaros said stomping, “SHUT UP ALL OF YOU! SHINJI IS THERE ANY IMPORTANT MOVES YOU DO BEFORE BATTLE?”

Shinji rubbed his chin, “Well there is one thing.”

Later…

Decade ran forward as he chased after an Mirror Monster.

I thought Ryuki was supposed to have taken care of all of these things?

The Mirror Monster was based off an Rhino and was quite large. It jumped into a mirror to escape Decade, as he quickly chased after it.

This will be the perfect time to try out those new cards the Imagin gave me.

He took out his cards and opened the Neo-Decadriver. The card he read was called “Attack Ride- Sha!” Decade looked at it puzzlingly and put it in the driver.

“Attack Ride..! Sha!”

Not being in control of his movements, Decade forcefully copied Ryuki’s signature fist pumped and shouted “Sha!”

The Mirror Monster looked at him confused as it charged into him throwing him into a wall before escaping. Decade groaned and held onto his stomach.

“Those idiot Imagin and their cursed catchprhase cards!” he said.

Elsewhere Metalgelas returned to his master Kamen Rider Gai as the beast held out an card stolen from Decade. Kamen Rider Gai snatched the card.

“The fool probably didn’t even know what hit him. This will do nicely.” Gai said.

He held the card up to the light, it read “Kamen Ride RYUKI Survive.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey, everyone message from the author. Thank you for reading! Crossover Ryuki was my first big writing project I completed. It has been readded to Tumblr as part of expanding my reach. Please follow this blog to check out my original content and future tokusatsu and Kamen Rider fanfics.

[m121akuma-blog]

[99centmusecd]

🔥🔥🔥THEY'RE HERE🔥🔥🔥

(wow the image quality kinda got scrungled... oops)

Scissors, Odin, Ouja, 2 Zoldas, 3 Knights... and not one, not 3, but 6 Ryukis! They make such a fun hollow plastic sound when they're dumped in a pile together hahaha. The listing had them as "dirty and damaged" but just a wet q-tip was enough to make them look much nicer.

Size comparison with SHF Vulcan (honestly, one of my favorites SHF so far, up there with Thouser and Ex-Aid... though, all the others I have are either new and expensive or old and breakable so I don't pose them near as much)

Investigating and Invading my desk

And another something special! An EP by Scissor's actor, who was in the band The Lantern until 2006. There's hardly anything about the band online; I can only find one recording anywhere (though I'm probably not looking in the right places tbh tbh) but I've been looking off and on for months and finally!

:)

[the-tubort]

So I did a Chemy tier list

[ryuki23]

It boggles my mind how important the Ryuki Clip Show Episode is

Like, we got:

First proper appearance of Kamen Rider Odin

THE REVEAL THAT RYUKI IS A TIME LOOP STORY, A FACT THAT IS SO MASSIVELY IMPORTANT

Because of the time loop aspect, the clip show aspect is played for horror, with Shinji desperately trying to change something, anything, in the brief moments when he remembers the previous loop, but everything mostly still happens the same way anyway

EXTREMELY GOOD SHINJI MOMENT: leaving hundreds of notes for himself so he can just get one hit in on Odin, and he succeeds! Even though it was small, Shinji succeeded in changing something, in doing something different this time around. Even this tiny change proves Kanzaki Shiro wrong

Also a very important character moment for Kanzaki Shiro, with the reveal that he started a whole new loop just to save a drawing of himself and Yui, which is such a crucial insight into his character

And it's not that this episode is important despite being a clip show episode, because it uses the clip show format to establish all these important things. I don't think it would be nearly as effective if it wasn't a clip show episode. Obsessed

[faithful-grigori]

“#i was watching the recap episode and after it was over i thought, #next time he resets it is going to be because he made a typo in the group chat”

more things kanzaki shiro reset the timeline over

[descendant-of-truth]

A must-see moment from this stage play, now translated by yours truly! This is my first time translating a long series of dialogue like this, so the phrasing might be a little off here and there, but I'm still confident in its overall accuracy.

It's not the full scene, since I was having a harder time making out what they were saying after that point, but since the main highlight was Ren and Shinji's reunion, I think it's fine as it is for now. Enjoy!

Transcript below the cut:

Shinji: What the--? I'm... pretty sure I was dead... Shinji: Ren. Hey, Ren! hang in there! Ren: Where...? Eri? Shinji: Thank goodness. Why were you sleeping? Ren: Kido...? Kido! Shinji: Whoa! Ren: You're alive?! Shinji: Ah, that startled me... Shinji: So... I guess I really did die, back then? Ren: You... got injured while you were fighting-- Shinji: Right, right, against those monsters. Ren: So that's how it is. Ren: You're dead. Shinji: Hey now, that's hurtful. What about you, how did the battle go? Ren: After I left, I defeated Odin, gave Eri a new life, and then I lost consciousness in the hospital room. That's the last thing I remember. Shinji: Then... are you dead, too? Ren: Most likely. Takeru: What's going on? Shinji: A Kamen Rider?! Ren: I've never seen a Rider like that. Shinji: Then, a monster?! Takeru: Uh, and you two are...? Shinji: It talked!

[baradhiblue]

THOUGHT AND MEMORY! KAMEN RIDER KJALAR

so, here's a fun little rider form for tsumuri from me that i've been cooking in my mind for a bit.

navigator riders use lesser vision drivers (don't have admin permissions for behind the scenes stuff, but when a navigator rider is required they have full permissions for the game area only) and serve as "bridges" between admin and players, so their looks are intermediary from admin riders and player riders and are styled after psychopomp figures as in the situations in which the navigator is required to transform she must play the role of leading the players through the depths of hell

tsumuri's navigator rider form, kjalar, receives one of the names of odin, which doubles as a play on "karasu". she is styled after valkyries, odin, and ravens.

[maskedman111]

[magicaldogtoto]

A thing I'm struck by while thinking of Kamen Rider Ryuki while reading the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda is how, like Odin, Shiro is someone who is desperately trying to change a supposedly fated outcome, and to that end he engineers conflict amongst people because such conflict is needed to achieve his goals. (In Odin's case, he needs war because only by dying in battle can warriors go to Valhalla, where Odin will prepare them for Ragnarok, the final battle that will decide the fate of the Nine Worlds.)

The people who decided to name Shiro's personal Rider "Odin" knew what they were doing.

[stickers-on-a-laptop]

looking at the chou taisen war teams for real is super funny what do you MEAN

ooo was in this thing 3 times (for a blue team, a flying team, and a high speed team)

bravo's on team women?? hello???????

knight's here, for a flying team, sure why not

drive's blue form is on team high speed, with go-ongreen

team detective doesn't have go-onblack, get fucking rekt

odin has a spot on team card

thebee gets to be here so we can have enough members on team insect, as kingoh was not yet a thing i guess

team dandy, which apparently means "over the age of 30 during their run", has hibiki and kyoryublue

team takaika has kamen riders that were 5'6, 5'9, and 6'0 respectively but all played by the same suit actor

yellow owl and ryugen are on the same team? what did raito do to deserve THAT??

lazer was on the same team as den-o gun form, zangetsu, and shinkenblue, and what in the fucking world

[momoguido]

Thor Ragnarok reminds me of Kamen Rider a little bit in how it feels like the crew and the producer were at odds.

Like the producer said, "For this one you have to hit beats of Odin dies, Hulk comes back, and Asgard is destroyed. It's a dark drama that explores the court politics of Asgardians"

And then the creative team said, "ok but what if trash planet arena battle?"

[fantasyinvader]

Today, I had a revelation.

In Kamen Rider Ryuki, there's a rider who looks like Batman. Ren aka Kamen Rider Knight. Even has a bat-theme going on, as he's partnered with a bat monster. Ren is involved with the Rider War, a (rigged) battle royale where they last remaining Rider gets a wish granted. Ren's wish is to save his girlfriend, put into a coma by his bat-monster. But while Ren is angry and abrasive, he also struggles with the idea of actually killing others. He has to defeat an unknown person brainwashed into being the final boss Kamen Rider Odin (only for another Odin to pop up. Again, rigged), but he also grows close to some of the other Riders.

It's an interesting inversion. Batman is famous for his no-kill policy, justifying it that if he begins to kill criminals it'll become easier and easier until all he only stops criminals by killing them. It's a slippery slope argument, why he doesn't want to be judge, jury and executioner, and something to take into consideration with how many stories speculate on Batman's mental health.

But this is what got me, the MC is a rookie journalist (with a respected female sempai) who tries to stop Ren from killing. Shinji Kido just wants everyone to stop fighting each other and instead focus on stopping the monsters from eating unsuspecting civilians. Everyone finds him annoying, but other Riders do grow attached to him. Kamen Rider Raia sacrifices himself to save Shinji after his fortune telling said Shinji would die, and he believed his fortunes were always right. Ren finds himself conflicted on the matter, even tries to cut ties with Shinji.

Ryuki was Toei wanting to show kids what heroism actually was (despite introducing the first evil Riders). And it's answer is being willing to sacrifice yourself for others. Ren puts himself through hell to save his girlfriend. Goro replaces his master as Kamen Rider Zolda so his master can die in peace to his illness. Tiger wanted to be a hero, even sacrificing his mentor who always preached “the needs of the many...,” but is recognized as one when he sacrifices himself to save a child from a traffic accident. Again, Raia died protecting Shinji and Shinji dies protecting a little girl from monsters prior to the final battle. Sacrificing others is not heroic, Shinji taught us that.

Shinji is... the show's Superman. That's what I realized today. The one whose example inspires others. His klutziness isn't an act like it is with Clark, but he'll help out people out of a genuine desire to help. It's how he's introduced after all, getting into a fight with a driver on behalf of someone in an accident. And in his main finisher, he jumps to the skies in a pose right out of the comic books.

In the end, it's Shinji's influence that convinces the female lead Yui, a mirror doppelgänger of the big bad's dead sister, to convince her brother to let his sister go. To not sacrifice the Riders (and the civilians who get killed as collateral) in order to save her, using his powers to prevent the Rider War from ever happening after who-knows-how many timeloops...where Shinji always got involved and messed things up for him.

I hated Ryuki's ending when I first saw it, since it retconned the entire show, but as I got older I appreciated it more and more. Now I love it. I wonder if the Superman parallel was intentional. I mean, it's not like Western Superheroes are unknown over there. Legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka was the president of a Superman fan club once upon a time, and the guy who drew Speed Racer also made a Superman manga, while Super Sentai borrowed elements from a Spider-man show Toei made in collaboration with Marvel comics. So...maybe? But considering how Superman has been restored to being a hope maker after being so cynical due to Man of Steel and the New 52, it's nice to think that in the early 2000's someone, even in Japan, knew what he was about and served as an inspiration for another hero.

[thewapolls]

since the last one being a repeat was a bit of a copout, have another poll today...

BLAKOU & SHANZEN I have no trivia on these guys. They appear to be totally original and just kinda vaguely toku-hero-esque. They do seem to share Kamen Rider Black and his nemesis, ShadowMoon's color schemes, but that's a bit of a long shot to really call a reference. Ironically they actually sorta resemble the Kamen Rider G4 suit from the Kamen Rider Agito movie, but that came out a few years after WA2. In any event the name BURAKKAU[ブラッカウ] SEO is dominated by a burger place called BLACKOWS[ブラッカウズ]. And while SHANZEN[シャンゼン] doesn't have any direct hits, it does pull up the old henshin hero CHANGERION[シャンゼリオン] so it's maybe possible the name was meant to be CHANGIN(G)?

AMDUSCIAS aka AMDUKIAS brings us back to the Ars Goetia. You know the drill with this. Random arbitrary hierarchical titles and domains, but not really much in the ways of actual "lore". He's draw as a man with a unicorn head, but I like the WA monster's nky lance and horse armor.

SLEIPNIR, Norse myth, Odin's 8 legged steed, unmatched in speed, gifted to Odin and birthed by Loki in the form of a mare when he seduced Svaðilfari, the unmatched stallion of the architect who build the walls of Asgard.

AL GEBAR seems to be accurately taken from ALGEBAR, the star β Orionis, also known as Rigel. Itself taken from the name AL-JABBAR[الجبار]. (Dueto its place in astronomy it's also associated with mythic warriors represented in constellations like Orion and Aurvandil.)

RIESENGE seems like it's meant to be related to the German RIESE or RIESEN meaning "Giant" but I'll be honest I don't know enough German to know how that -GE works as a declension or inflection or conjugation or whatever... Let's just say it means "GIANT" and leave it at that... >__> OH but I guess that sort of makes it an informal relative of the GIGANTES and GIANT MAXIMUM enemies.