#this is what I like about kamen rider so far this kind of thing seems big in there

[robocops-a-christ-allegory]

Im personally not into the "superheroes are a metaphor for being queer" type takes most of the time but this is because i in general have a really cynical take on superheroes these days and always prefer the edgy stuff which doesn't fit in great with that. I like superheroes as someone losing their sense of identity/trying to find a identity for themself in a self destructive way. My header is a screenshot from vigilante.

[cina-full-moon-xanadium]

i've gone on and on about this point on many different shows and movies lately but stepping back from it there really is such a huge problem with modern kamen rider stories having too MUCH forgiveness. Like that seems a really stupid thing to say about a kid's show but when it's a kid's show dealing head-on with the kind of topics it is, it's like... you need to set a limit, here. You need to set some kind of standard for kids

in 01 Thouser is forgiven for his warmongering and ZAIA continues on as normal. Horobi forgives Aruto and HIDEN continues on as normal. In Beyond Generations Hongou forgives the nazi scientist for destroying his life and the lives of many others while his son forgives him for completely abandoning him. Similarly George in Revice and Neon in Geats forgive their fathers for doing some truly awful shit to them and then just abandoning them, and all this happens at the drop of the hat with swirling emotional music, and it's like-- where does this stop? It's good to educate kids about the merits of forgiveness and accepting faults but it's also important to give them standards of where things go too far, where there are things they should stand up to and people they don't need to waste every second trying to make amends with.

It's not a difficult thing and not something Kamen Rider hasn't done before; Faiz's Kaixa and Ryuki's Ouja were characters that the main protagonists tried to understand and communicate with but got taken advantage of at every turn because of that, and there's no reward for their kindness -- their pain only stops when those characters die. And these are stories about the merits of kindness and communication in a world that makes that difficult!! It's what makes those stories so much stronger and what makes those characters so much more memorable! There's going to be people you can't win over and you're going to have to walk away from and I think what's completely lost me about Kamen Rider lately is how toothless it is in this respect. It wants to educate its audience about complex subjects but then answers it with a 'you should forgive everyone' blanket statement. It's just bad storytelling and it's frustrating to see it do this time and time again

[recreationalfanfics]

Takeshi Asakura x GN! reader General headcanons

tw. dysfunctional relationship because it is Asakura, slight! OOC Asakura because I'm still trying to get a handle on his character.

Note: Kamen Rider Ryuki fandom, where are you??

- Oh, this man is gonna ruin your life. Like, he's a literal criminal/murderer. He just constantly acts like a rabid alleycat that's backed in a corner.

- Takeshi Asakura is a rather fickle lover, never really being all that good with affections and emotions. Somedays it seems like he couldn't care less about what you did but then there are others where his arms around your body feel like a snake coiling around it's prey.

- Takeshi would be so frustrating to deal with, mostly because he's not allowed to let you find out about his Kamen Rider alter ego, so he will randomly go missing for days at a time. He's considerate enough that he'll give you a heads up about when he's going but that's really about it. He won't elaborate on any details of why he needs to leave or where he's going.

- While you know you shouldn't put up with this, Takeshi will always give you a heads up that you won't be seeing him for a while. He won't elaborate on why or how long he'll be gone, but he'll at least give you a heads-up.

- If you didn't know your lover as well as you do, you'd assume that he was cheating on you. The truth of the matter is that you know your lover has very little tolerance for other people, sometimes you think he barely tolerates you, and really the only reason you don't end things with him is because you're slightly terrified at how he'll react given his past of aggression and violence.

- However, (this is the OOC part) Asakura has no desire to hurt you. Which is rather surprising to others and to himself. From the moment he met you, you were the only person he could tolerate and never had violent urges towards. The people around you are not so lucky, as they somewhat vex Asakura with their judgemental looks and hushed whispers to get you to leave him.

- Despite the fact he does it so much so casually, Asakura truly doesn't like leaving you alone and he's never as far away as you think he is. When you sigh to yourself as you wash your face to the night, you're unaware of the purple Kamen Rider who silently watches you from the other side of the mirror. He allows himself to admire you with a tender and loving gaze from the other side of the mirror only to become irritated at the thought of seeing you be around all those boring people.

- He does like to physically fight, it strangely enough helps him gain a clear mind, but he gets just as much joy and clarity during your lovers' spats (which you can imagine happens frequently). He has committed that attractive annoyed face you make or frustrated furrow of your brows to memory and he will sometimes be purposely antagonistic just because he loves your upset expressions so much. Meanwhile, you know to give up when you see that mischievous smirk on his face because you know he's just being a jerk on purpose.

- When he pushes you too far, he will let up. He doesn't ever outright apologize because he rarely feels remorse for what he does but seeing you get all mopey and moody annoys him *and makes him feel a LITTLE bad*. So he makes it up by either stealing something you had your eye on and giving it to or secretly taking out someone who has been a huge thorn in your side.

- Speaking of crimes, he does not hide his from you because you're going to find out anyways so what's the point? He would like to get you to join him, you know, as some kind of couple bonding activity that you try to urge him to do so much. Only for you to roll your eyes and dismiss the idea.

- He definetly protects you from mirror monsters and he's much more brutal when finishing them off if they ever come to attack you. In all honesty, his love language might just straight up be murdering people/monsters and committing crimes. That's how he shows you he cares.

- He bites, I don't know how to explain it but I feel like he bites.

- Secret relationship obviously. At first, it was because he didn't want the law to arrest you anytime he got in trouble. Now, it's more like he just doesn't want involved in the fight between Kamen Riders in general and risk having you be used against him. Especially when Shiro Kanzaki has threatened you in case he doesn't want to fight. *Unlikely, since that is all that this man wants to do*

- He likes that you don't try to fix him or try to rationalize him as well. Asakura really does appreciate the fact that you don't try to fix him or try to justify his actions in your head. You know what kind of person he is and that there's no point in trying to change him. Which he finds romantic in his own way.

[magicaldogtoto]

Started watching more of Granbelm and I'm starting to piece together what it is about a lot of Madoka-inspired/edgy Magical Girl shows that seem to be patterned slightly after Madoka that never really appeals to me.

This isn't going to be about Granbelm specifically, which I'm still watching; I have no real opinions on it so far other than "giant robots with magical girls is a good formula, more people should do that." Indeed, it's why I'm curious about the show in the first place (I love Magic Knight Rayearth).

(Content warning: There's some mention of suicide.)

It's not that I don't like darker shows now and then--you can already tell just by looking through my blog here--it's more that I just don't particularly care for battle royale/death game-type stories. I started thinking about this because I was talking to a friend about how I was considering finally reading The Hunger Games, which I put off for about a decade. I always felt kind of squeamish at the idea of kids getting into a fight to the death where only one person can survive and the others die horribly. This was back in 2012 or so; I've since then reconsidered things, and the political themes of the series do appeal to me (I have, however, watched the movies with friends; I even watched Battle Royale, which I don't particularly consider The Hunger Games a rip-off of, but it's the other death-game story people bring up when the latter is mentioned).

And people often do consider Madoka a battle royale-like story (going off to similarities between it and Kamen Rider Ryuki, which I have also watched), but I never really saw it as one, to be honest. It's true that Mami says that Magical Girls will fight each other for resources and territory, but then actually look at the plot of the original twelve-episode show, and... there's only two girls who fight each other. Moreover, the reasons for their fight aren't really tied to the need for Grief Seeds so much as them having very different ideas of how a Magical Girl should act. And that rivalry lasts about two episodes before it gets dropped as Kyubey's machinations become more apparent. Additionally, a lot of these battle royale-type shows always have people fighting with a fixed goal in mind (some prize/wish getting granted). In the context of Madoka, the wishes are granted before the girls fight, so it always felt like an inverse of that to me.

A lot of these shows that feel post-Madoka in their own way also operate on the concept of "more is better," in my opinion. As if in order to draw attention to themselves, they have to up the ante of what they thought people liked about the show. You know, "People liked when Sayaka and Kyouko fought for two episodes in PMMM, so now we'll have all the girls fighting," along with "People liked the five girls in PMMM, well we have more than five now," and "People like the angst and trauma the girls have to go through, so we'll just up that and make it so they're borderline suicidal." (Even PMMM's spin-offs are victim to this thinking, including the ones I personally like.) And this is where I disagree; more doesn't always equal good. I liked the simplicity of the original PMMM. Less characters also means more room for them to develop and for us to understand their issues.

I suppose this is an attempt by others to find what made PMMM work and replicate that ad infinitum for maximum profit, but as someone like me--who encountered PMMM in a bubble in the late 2010s, completely devoid of knowledge regarding the discourse surrounding it and its followers, because I was in college and barely did much in terms of anime fandoms for most of that decade--that isn't what really appeals to me about PMMM.

For me, what appeals to me about PMMM as its own story is a combination of its surreal/dissonant imagery of bright colors contrasted with darker ones, and just the idea of people trying to make their way in the world even though the world seems so callous. I mentioned it on Twitter that when I first watched the show, I was just out of school (beat a huge exam that I needed to take to pass), and I was thinking of all the possibilities of what my life out of college would be like. I was also dealing with someone I know committing suicide, so I was in this weird zone of struggling with the best moment of my life (currently), and one of the worst things that could have happened to me and people I know. Even what Madoka does in the end, I was fine with that. It reminds me of Guillermo del Toro's comments for his writing for Pan's Labyrinth, which also (spoilers) has a female protagonist in a cold world make a huge choice at the risk of her own life to do something that's for the greater good. That idea that, even a small change can have a ripple effect that affects other people. (Rebellion is a whole other discussion.)

Maybe it's because my initial viewing of PMMM is tied to that time, but none of the later post-Madoka type of shows have ever really gotten my attention that way. And I've personally come to the conclusion that the original twelve episodes of PMMM, while fine on their own and for their own story, are a terrible model to use as inspiration for other magical girl stories (which is why I didn't mind MagiReco just straight up throwing things out in the original game).

Everyone probably has different opinions about this; that's fine. I'm just talking about my own experiences here. It is what it is, in the end.

[bugtransport]

Kamen Rider X Finished February 14th, 2023

Here's your warning now: this one also got away from me. I BROKE 4k...

Kamen Rider X is… a show!

Look. I don’t know how to start this. I don’t know how many of you have seen this show. I don’t know how many of you saw me lose my fucking mind when I watched the first two episodes of this one. I had to kick myself out of the house and go get a breath of fresh air and went to H Mart and bought a shitton of side dishes. Just to cope, you know? Sometimes you need some fish cakes, for the soul. I ate great that whole week but that’s besides the point. X does have what I myself would describe as “a beginning” so let’s just recap that first, I guess, because it sure kicks the show off.

Pictured: welcome to Wet Boy Wonderland.

PART ONE: SETUP!

Before we begin fully: I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there are… a couple issues with and themes in this show that I appreciated having a heads up on before I got to them. I think that what I might have to say might come off as far too complimentary without this disclaimer and to spoil my final conclusion, my actual feelings are a little mixed. We’ll be touching on this later with how it ties into what my thesis ends up being, but there’s a switch in the theme of the monsters part way through the show from Greek Mythology to Various Bad Guys In History and the thing about various bad guys in history and also shows that are made in, let I remind you, the 70s, is that sometimes things can be… well, I’ll be blunt. There’s a pretty racist caricature in there and some of the picks can be a little off color and also there’s Starfish Hitler which does feature swastikas and was a decision that the boys and I dubbed “sure a choice.” I mean yeah, he gets killed like all the other bad guys do, but still. Do you know the experience of watching Aristocats for the first time as an adult and being like “Hmm, I really do not remember this weird racist scene in the middle of this film, what the fuck? I mean I guess it was a different time, but still…” That’s kind of what this feels like in spots. Jin Keisuke also has maybe the world’s worst dad. This is a guy who seems to have decided that a “signs of parental abuse” checklist is a game of bingo and that somehow it can be won. This is most apparent during the first couple episodes for reasons you’ll see in like, a minute or so if you read at the same speed I do or faster, but it flavors the entire show in a way I’ll hopefully convince you of by the end. Trust me on this one. Those are the two big disclaimers I have out of the way; if either of those are non-negotiable issues for you, I recommend not finishing this and watching something that isn’t Kamen Rider X. For the rest of you? Buckle up. 

Here’s (roughly) what happens in the first two episodes of X. Jin Keisuke comes back home for a visit. He gets jumped by some goons at the boat docks who want to kidnap him because of his dad and gets shot at and falls into the water. He gets out of the water and reconnects with his… fiancee? I think? Keisuke goes to visit his father at his lab in a seaside cave, says that again, dad, he has no interest in going into science, and gets promptly judo thrown in response. His dad then tells him to put on a vest, which he does. Keisuke and his fiancee (?) go out to eat dinner and she tries to guilt him into sticking around because his dad is lonely. Keisuke gets a message saying that GOD is coming to fuck his shit up. Oh, right, GOD is the name of the bad guy organization in this one. Just roll with it... Neptune and the goons (great band name, the more that I think about it) overthrow a ship. Keisuke’s fiancee comes to visit them at the cave-lab; Keisuke’s dad shoots his son. This is okay because it turns out that the vest was bulletproof. Everyone laughs at this. Keisuke presumably goes to sleep at some point after this but gets woken up in the middle of the night and attacked by some goons and oh look, one of them happens to be his fiancee! What a surprise! Keisuke rushes to his dad’s side to find the guy bleeding out on the rocks in front of his cave-lab. Goons pop up and shoot him too, killing him. Keisuke’s dad has enough fight left in him to drag his son into his cave-lab and borg him and somehow get him onto a boat, where Keisuke wakes up after an indeterminate amount of time, surprised to be alive. Keisuke’s dad left a message for him telling that he built a supercomputer that is also an island (the Jin Station) to house his consciousness on a computer now that he’s dead. He gives Keisuke a bike and a quick rundown on how to become the X Rider and then asks Keisuke to explode his corpse for him. He does this. There’s a flashback of Keisuke as a kid running to his dad and his dad grabbing him and just fucking slamming the kid down. Keisuke goes off and defeats Neptune and the goons and gets helped by a woman who looks exactly like his fiancee but isn’t actually her, who gives no explanation as to why this is the case. 

…So that’s episode one. 

Pictured: father-son bonding at its finest!

I’ll make episode two shorter: Keisuke has another run in with his fiancee and her doppelganger which doesn’t explain anything either. Our monster of the week plotline is about a kid whose dad was just killed in a car accident a couple weeks ago and who apparently fought with his dad a lot and doesn’t know how to deal with the guilt that comes from that. Keisuke tries to protect this kid from misinformed townspeople who think that he’s hypnotizing people and the fact that he’s a borg starts to sink in. Keisuke goes back to the Jin Station to experience his first bout of borg angst with some support from his computer-father, whose response to his son wanting comfort is to call him a weak bitch and tell him that he can’t rely on anyone, he has to fight alone, and insist that Keisuke blow up the Jin Station, killing him again. This happens. Keisuke manages to convince the public that the boy was being slandered by GOD and that he wasn’t actually hypnotizing people. He then beats up the guy actually responsible. Keisuke comforts the kid by straightening out his flute, which got bent in the fight, and contemplates that maybe there are some good things about being a borg after all. 

Pictured: I might have understated exactly how the stages of grief impacted him on this one here.

If you think I'm exaggerating anything here you're more than welcome to fact check me. These first two episodes are available for free on the Toei Youtube channel, go ham! Good luck.

In any case, you might be seeing a theme emerging here. Don’t worry, we’ll get to that in just a minute. There’s a little bit of contrasting that I want to do first with the previous riders. Jin Keisuke is pretty different than the guys that we’ve had before and is especially jarring coming off of a dude like Kazami Shiro. Keisuke’s wet. He doesn’t have a support network like even Hongo did with at least knowing Tachibana from the start. Hell, it’s debatable that the guy even knows Kamen Riders are like, a thing, and not just some random shit his dad made up. He certainly doesn’t know them personally like Hongo was able to make sure both Hayato and Kazami did from the start. There’s a vague kind of uncertainty undercutting everything that Jin Keisuke does as a borg because he wasn’t borged in the same way that the other previous riders were. It was by someone who he ostensibly should be able to trust (unlike Hongo and Hayato) and for a fight that wasn’t at all his (unlike Kazami) and in a way that, because of these facts, comes off as more malicious and personal than Shocker’s sterile, random cruelty and while yes, his dad was technically saving his life, it doesn’t really seem to come from a place of kindness. It really comes off like his dad wanted to have just another way to control him after he was gone and when he realized that his son was still something that he viewed as “weak,” died to save himself the embarrassment. He explicitly requested that Keisuke not lean on anyone and instead take on the fight himself, despite doing exactly the opposite of that in giving the fight over to his son in the first place. What a hypocritical ass. 

It’s not just that – there’s the way that he fights with a weapon, kind of like Riderman, but essentially fences, which is so unlike any of the boys previously. He just kind of coincidentally falls into fighting GODborgs for the first part of the show with no real rhyme or reason, not with any plan, not necessarily being targeted by them even, really not seeming like he has any stake in the fight at all. He kind of doesn’t. Everyone else had some kind of personal vendetta and sure, GOD killed his dad the first time around, but Keisuke also got asked by his computer-dad to kill him, and he did. So. I mean, he could have just kept his dad alive that way. This is explicitly not his fight. He just kind of ended up here. Once the show gets going and Jin Keisuke gets into the swing of things and we start getting back into something that feels… a bit more like the previous Rider seasons, there’s still this odd disbelief in his abilities that all the characters, including Tachibana and the rest of his allies, approach Keisuke with. With Kazami, he’d do completely off the wall shit and everyone would be like “haha, that’s our guy!” Keisuke will play dead to try and throw someone off his tracks and go a little overboard with the fake blood or something and it’ll work, but in the same breath Tachibana will just look at him all confused and question why on earth he decided to go that way in the first place. I feel like I’m going full Pepe Syliva; is this not meant to mirror his father’s disbelief in his son’s abilities/path in life and the subsequent control that he tried to push onto him? In fact, there’s really only one character who I can think of who doesn’t underestimate him near constantly: Apollo Geist, baby.

Pictured: the creature in question

PART TWO: Fuck it, call me a Jin Keisuke apollogeist

Sorry, I had to fit that joke in here somewhere. I’ve been trying for weeks to make it work. Apollo Geist is the leader of GOD’s secret police, a position that is basically analogous to any of the other commanders that we’ve seen before. Weekly monster gets sent out, he’s the one above them in the ranks so he oversees their progress, critiques them, ends up 1v1ing the rider at some point, gets their shit kicked in. We’ve seen this before, we’ve loved this before, it works so well and I think it’s definitely something that the beginning episodes were lacking. We have to get some structure in these evil organizations in order to be able to even start to think about tearing them down. Though – because of the aforementioned constant and relentless underestimating of Jin Keisuke, when Apollo Geist appears and becomes obsessed with taking him down and claims that he’s the only one who can actually defeat the rider and stands on cliffsides watching him fight it really comes off as way more personal than anyone else we’ve had before. He can transform, not really into a monster, but into something way closer to X or any of the riders than we’ve had with anyone else previously. Apollo Geist feels like he’s set up to be Jin Keisuke’s equal, and it’s mad yaoi. 

Oh yeah, and totally forgot about this until I was looking back through my caps to write this, but Keisuke’s fiancee? Yeah, she was trying to do like whole double agent thing with her twin (who was the other one who looked like her) and it didn’t work out and she exploded mere minutes before Apollo Geist was introduced for the first time. She never really gets mentioned again. But that does leave the spot for a romantic interest open…

Pictured: special friends...

So. What the hell else am I supposed to think. Like, sorry, the man butts into pretty much every fight because he doesn’t trust his lackeys with this man. He wants to take X down in a way that’s satisfying to him. He checks in with Tachibana when Jin Keisuke fakes his death without telling him that he’s with GOD, leading Tachibana to think he must be one of Keisuke’s friends. He does the same thing when visiting the coffee shop later. He’s fucking obsessed with this guy. The two of them bike joust. Apollo Geist will jump onto his bike from 20 floors up, tenderizing his nuts into oblivion when he hits the saddle, just to show off. He’s obsessive and wild and wears a suit that’s all one color and man, I cannot imagine who else this might be reminding me of right now, but my word… and, both times he dies, he does so trying to take X down with him. 

“Both times he dies?” Both times he dies. The man fails to hold down X the first time around when he tried to explode him with his arm bomb and following that gets rebuilt and upgraded in the process. Long story short, after donning his little cowboy fit and realizing that he has shit aim suddenly during his daily shooting practice to kill Jin Keisuke, he learns that he only has a day or two left to live and that the literal only way to reverse this is to take a piece of the X suit and have it attached to his heart. 

Pictured: heterosexual behavior

Yes, you heard me correctly there: the only way for Apollo Geist to live here is for him to quite literally accept Jin Keisuke into his heart. Fucking incredible, isn’t it? He doesn’t do this, obviously, because he did die a second time, but look. The metaphor. It’s right there!! Maybe if Apollo Geist and Jin Keisuke had met under different circumstances, or maybe if they had a common enemy, or maybe if Apollo Geist wanted to admit his newfound weakness to Jin Keisuke or accept Jin Keisuke’s weaknesses as well (like the part where Keisuke didn’t want to transform because he was hurt, right, and Apollo Geist wanted to force him into changing so they could fight) and get into something that isn’t just this back and forth will they won’t they tension, the “what if we were two boys?” complex, the fucking starcrossed lovers of it all. 

Pictured: he likes to be tall

Sorry, wait a fucking second, wasn’t there someone else who died a horrible explosive death because they didn’t want to accept Keisuke into his heart? Who also saw Jin Keisuke as someone who should be able to put up a good, satisfying fight, regardless of what his wishes might be? Does Apollo Geist… also tie back to the whole dad thing? 

PART 3: The whole dad thing. 

Pictured: not a compliment

So. The whole dad thing. There are so, so many examples I could pull from, but lemme just run through what I specifically took notes on while watching the show as being repeated quite a distracting amount: 

Human experimentation. My fucking god, X has a lot of it randomly peppered in throughout the show. Not even really things that GOD is doing – the one that comes to mind is in one episode when the GODborg was influencing a bunch of kids to commit suicide and the tie between all of them was that they were all taking an experimental drug because they’re all honors students or something and they wanted to boost their brains even further. Honestly sounds like some shit that would happen in the suburb I used to live in, which is why I remember this one so well. The person who developed this thing gets nervous because like, I believe that the last kid alive on this drug is their kid. Jin Keisuke does save them, but you know who fucking else experimented on their kid? Jin Keisuke’s dad. 

Vampires. What the fuck, this show has I think at least 5 separate instances of vampires in it. In a 35 episode show. There are so many vampires. You know, the monster that’s notorious for infecting other people and sucking their life from them and changing them irreversibly in the process, making them stronger physically but also condemning them to living a hellish life. Wow, you know what that sounds like to me? Kind of like turning your son into a cyborg to save him and forcing him into a fight with a bunch of guys that were trying to kill you. 

The switch in monster themes in the middle of the show. There’s a point post Apollo Geist where the monsters swap over from being themed after figures in Greek mythology to historical figures. Yes, like I stated in the warning at the beginning of this post. Almost as if Jin Keisuke spent the time up to Apollo Geist fighting the mythos of his father, his ideals and the impact that left on him, and then when Apollo Geist died because he refused to let Keisuke into his heart, swapped over to fighting the actual sins of his father’s past. As if Apollo Geist dying for a similar reason that his father did when he asked Keisuke to blow him up so that he could “build character” or whatever, make Keisuke then realize that his father’s beliefs were… kinda fucked. That maybe the way he treated him wasn’t right. That maybe after that realization, he can move on slightly and begin the actual work of taking GOD down. 

[[Important to note but not a section in the dad saga – after Apollo Geist and the monster switch happens, the new guy leading the GODborgs is one big robolad named King Dark. Yeah, this thing has already gone on for too long and I didn’t want to recap even more of the show so I’m just giving you the context. Couldn’t figure out how else to do it and make it coherent and again, don’t know how many of you have actually watched this show. Okay back to the essay:]]

Kazami Shiro shows up and upgrades Jin Keisuke towards the end. After this point, Keisuke gets a perm (irrelevant) and his fighting style completely changes (very relevant) to be much more traditional Rider. The Ridol stick that his father gave him that he used to fight all the time with? Not used anymore. He has a new henshin pose and a new finisher. It’s just like, oh, I don’t know, being able to meet people he relates to and find a new family with the other riders is maybe helping him find his identity separate from his dad? While he is still obviously impacted by the trauma his father imposed upon him (in being a rider in the first place) he’s taking it and changing it into something his own? Quite literally, textually, physically changed by the people he’s met? Who would have thought!

The GOD leader? The one who we’ve been working towards fighting all this time? The person controlling King Dark? Yeah. That’s Keisuke’s dad’s friend, who was the one behind getting him dragged into GOD business, which of course is then in turn the reason that Keisuke got dragged into this mess in the first place. Remember above when I mentioned how the monsterswap lead to Keisuke fighting the actual sins of his father and his past actions? Yeah. That’s the final boss. Just to cement and drive home really how much of this could have been avoided. How much the entire thing was his dad’s fault. Keisuke gets stabbed all the way through his chest while in King Dark but still manages to come out on top. Yeah, it hurt him, but the man was finally cut off. 

The ending scene of the show, where Keisuke rides off into the distance and Tachibana reads the note that he left for him explaining his plans going forward, is so much different than the end of V3. V3 ends with Kazami Shiro experiencing loss once more and going to go off to deal with that. X, on the other hand, ends on one of the most hopeful notes I’ve seen yet. Keisuke seems… really happy. He’s excited to head out on his own, like the other riders before him. He’s excited to experience what they’ve experienced. He’s finally shed the weight of his father and his expectations for him and he can figure out what being a Kamen Rider means to him, specifically. It’s really, really sweet. It’s the ending I want in a story about parental abuse. It didn’t make me cry, because I was too happy for him, but it really stuck with me something vicious.

Do I sound like I’m going off the rails? I feel like I am! 

The thing is… most if not all of these things can totally be explained away in ways that don’t have a damn thing to do with Jin Keisuke’s dad. The change of the monster themes from mythology to reality? I know that one’s because the person who handled the monster designs for the first part of the show left and they had to bring someone new in. The vampires? I’m convinced they got a great deal on the fangs and just wanted to use them where they could. The human experimentation themes? Sure, that’s always been a theme in Rider, not really to this degree of lethality, but maybe they’re just trying to bring in a somewhat older audience or something. V3 upgrading him? Kazami Shiro fucking rules, of course they’d want to bring him back into the show, and why not have him give Keisuke something cool so they’d have an excuse to do just that. The contrast between the endings of V3 and X are super apparent to me because I’m watching them as an adult less than a month apart, but so many other characters also ride off into the sunset, it could just as easily mean nothing. 

I don’t care, I guess; I can’t see it any other way. It’s about defeating his dad and learning to deal with the trauma that your shit parents gave you. It’s Saturn Devouring His Son. Jin Keisuke is battling GOD but really, he’s just fighting all the demons that his father passed down to him. He’s fighting his ideals and his past and his old friend. He was fighting his father’s fight, and he’s done now. He’s found people that are like him, who have similar ideals and can support him in a way that his father couldn’t, and so when he rides off into the sunset at the end of the show, it’s maybe the lightest that I think the show has ever felt. He’ll have to deal with the consequences of his father’s actions for the rest of his life, there’s no question about that, but at least now he’s shed most of the baggage he was saddled with and is all the stronger for it. And I really, really don’t think that their intentions going into the show matter, because I think being able to read it that way can be enough for me. It feels like the story itself wanted to be told. It might have been messy, but hell, what weird relationships with your parents aren’t, right? 

Pictured: sure that was probably just a throwaway line but damn, I get why you would associate those things...

TL;DR:

Kamen Rider X is a show where I think that the curtains were blue because that’s what was on sale at the store; maybe yellow curtains were more in season so they got a good deal on the blue ones, and that’s why they used them. Still, whether or not they meant anything by them or not and again, let’s be real, I don’t really think that they did, sometimes they can blow in the breeze and catch the wind just right and ripple like the surface of the ocean, and maybe if you squint your eyes and think about it in just the right way, you can see the debris from the Jin Station floating by. 

Would I recommend Kamen Rider X?

FUCKING UHHHHHHHHHHH look okay. Yes if you’re nuts like me and think that this sounds like at least an interesting ride to watch. I can’t say that it really ever got boring and the fact that it’s only 35 episodes? It goes by fast. I was entertained throughout… that entertainment however did range a little bit from feeling like I was watching a fun little toku show to sometimes maybe watching a car wreck. I might have been rubbernecking down the freeway. I wouldn’t recommend that you start with X. Please, for the love of god, start with something that isn’t X. Heed the warning I wrote at the start. Maybe skip this one if you aren’t interested in thinking about some dude’s dad issues for a few weeks! But… it’s still compelling. I still keep thinking about it. It did a lot accidentally and I like it for that. Jin Keisuke, I wish you all the best! 

ONE MORE THING! I COULDN’T FIND A PLACE TO MENTION THIS BECAUSE THIS IS LIKE THE ONLY THING THAT DOESN’T TIE INTO KEISUKE’S DAD ISSUES BUT ALSO I STILL WANTED TO MENTION IT: THERE ARE LESBIANS!

LET’S GOOOOO CHIKO AND MAKO YEAAAAAHHH!!! 

One last Apollo Geist for the road:

[shining-gem34]

2.0 Spoilers Commentary

Okay fuck, I finally finished the main scenario quest for Penacony. I'm still NOT over that ending.

I screamed about it to a few friends already but I adored that tense and horrifying moment where Firefly and Trailblazer are trying to find a way out of the Dreamscape. The part where they're in a constant loop in the TV room: The static as they approached the door, the room growing darker and the TV screens brighter, and the voices becoming desperate/hysterical. Like I was legit getting the chills and ready to bolt (probably didn't helped I had earbuds in and playing it at like 10PM-11PM). THEN DEATH CAME DOWN UPON US LIKE HOLY SHIT I EXPECTED THAT BUT DAMN WHAT AN ENTRANCE.

I really do like Death concept in the game: An ominous creature that hides and attacks indiscriminately, and in a dream world where you're trying to wake up but can't as Death hunts you down. It be worse if it had chains rattling as it approaches you (*points at the Reaper in Persona 3*) if you linger around for too long.

The relief Trailblazer and I felt when they finally woke up in the real world like holy shit.

Then returning to the dreamscape to find out more of the truth, meeting Acheron (I've been very intrigued by the red dialogues) again, and we find out FIREFLY IS THERE. SHE WAS WORKING WITH SAM UNTIL THINGS WENT SOUTH AND FUCKING DEATH CAME DOWN, AND SHE WAS STABBED. HOYOVERSE DIDN'T HOLD BACK ON THAT.

I did get spoiled that Firefly was the character who will die in this patch, but I still got gutted deeply seeing Firefly expression at the last moment; reluctant to accept but still wanted to live as she teared up.

Sam. Fucking Kamen Rider Sam. He gave us a warning to leave and fuck it, he did not hold back trying to fight us (I was like...Blade, Pela, Yukong, and Bailu. I DIDN'T BRING DH IL TO THE FIGHT). Overall impression of Sam including the one Kafka video he was in and some bits in other character stories, he was a very straightforward dude with no mercy after warning us. I still do wonder what happened between him and Firefly before their alliance disbanded.

I'm still wrapping my head around Sam vs. Acheron, and then Black Swan taking us to Aventurine (I'VE WANTED TO PUNCH THIS MF SINCE FIRST MEETING HIM. I STILL DO). It is betrayal, we all agree on that, but Black Swan is genuine in wanting to keep us safe for her own reasons (Memokeeper).

Aventurine, other than an urge to punch his face, is rather...HMMM. He is a thorough gambler, both in the game and out, because it is hard to get a read on him. As a businessman? For some reason, I can trust him (to some extent) that he'll keep his word (somewhat). It don't mean he has his own agendas and loopholes ready at hand. I am super curious about his past since his eyes (and overall appearance? but I feel like it's his eyes) are a sign of his heritage that have been noted so far.

Regarding Aventurine informing us that Acheron is an Emanator of an Aeon...I don't think such information can be taken lightly. He does make some good points of Acheron "timely" appearance after Ifrit "death" but I believe he wants something in return (our help in his goals) for giving away such information. He isn't lying, but he is still keeping a few cards close to his chest.

What Aventurine wanted to show us at the end, I did NOT expect to see Robin! I was hoping I was dreaming when I read that Robin is dead BUT NO- ROBIN FELT LIKE IT CAME OUT OF THE LEFT FIELD UNLESS...Unless you think that Robin and Firefly are the same person(??). Or something happened to Robin that we didn't see, because Sunday seemed to know that Robin was dead (he got a report but WHAT THE FUCK WAS ROBIN DOING---). Ofc Sparkles wanted to fuck with people minds and get Sunday to snap by MASQUERADING AT HIS DECEASED SISTER- RECENTLY DECEASED SISTER. She kind of reminded me of Envy in that regard; disguising a person that other people know, try to get them to lower their guard, and strike them where it hurts knowing they can't fight back. I don't think she has any goals here- She just wants to make a show out of fucking with people heads and getting a good laugh (as she is a Masked Fool).

Anyway, that's all I can think about rn.

[absolutebl]

Not sure if you'll have an opinion on this, but I'm curious. I keep noticing a lot of casting connections between Japanese BL and another Japanese media genre I watch, and in particular one franchise. And I can't tell if it's A Thing or not. Maybe I'm just seeing it because I happen to watch both of these genres (maybe if I was into some other genre I'd see the same kind of overlap?), or for a mundane reason (e.g. maybe shows from both genres recruit actors of a certain sort/level of success?). It seems like more than a coincidence. But if it's not a coincidence, why would this happen?

The genre I'm talking about is tokusatsu shows. My family and I got into kaiju movies, then into Ultraman shows, and through that into other tokusatsu stuff. Around the same time, I got into Kdramas and eventually branched out to stuff from other parts of Asia and into BL. The franchise that most of the tokusatsu overlap happens with is Kamen Rider.

My sample size is small as I'm a recent convert to BLs, which is a weakness for this tentative argument, but I really think this might be noteworthy...maybe? Here's what I've got so far (noting years because the time range is interesting):

Senpai, This Can't Be Love! is full of Kamen Rider alums. I knew both leads (from Saber, 2020, and Ex-Aid, 2016) and their boss (from Ryuki, 2002), then heard from others on here that two other minor characters were on KR shows I haven't seen yet. This is the most extreme example by far and may be skewing my perception.

I knew Takeda Kouhei of Old Fashion Cupcake from Kamen Rider Kiva (2008), where his character is the polar opposite of Nozue (overconfident, flamboyant, girl-crazy). But then I found out he was a regular on Kamen Rider Build (2017) as well.

Less clear-cut and in the opposite direction, Nishijima Hidetoshi was in What Did You Eat Yesterday? (just heard about this quasi-BL from one of your posts) before being the lead in Kamen Rider Black Sun this year. He was also just in Shin Ultraman, the only overlap between Ultraman and the BL world I've noted so far.

At this point anyone reading this is probably picturing me like that meme of a wild-eyed Charlie Day in front of his conspiracy-theory wall collage. But I keep wondering. Is there someone in a studio role responsible for BL who's a huge Kamen Rider fan? A veteran casting director from Toei making a leap to a studio that produces BLs? Or maybe I just have a case of apophenia (unfounded pattern-finding).

Wondering if you might have some insight.

My guess is that it's actually agency stables in play. Talent agencies and casting directors get in each others pockets a lot. So often you'll see cross over actors, sets of actors, like the casting director fielded the agency's team.

Usually this is because the casting director notified the agency of the roles available and the agency also looked into all the sides, extras, etc and basically blanketed the couch with possibilities from thier stable.

So for example, Takara & Amagi are both played by Jpop idols, but while they're form different groups, they share the same talent agency.

To My Star stars Son Woo Hyun & Kim Kang Min are from the same agency and were also both in The Golden Spoon and Tale of the Nine-Tailed.

If you watch Kdramas as well as KBL you'll start to see this a lot with the sides and extras. I think Japan operates similarly. Something like Absolute BL fielded a ton of familiar faces and I think quite a few of them were from the same agency.

If casting has a good working relationship going with an agency, they can just ring them up from set to send someone over real quick if there has been a drop out or a sudden need for an extra. It's a kind of laziness but also the result of long relationships and industry networking. Also actors will travel in packs and get pulled in just because they're hanging around set while their friend is shooting, and they're often friendly because they share an agency.

I wouldn't be surprised if a number of the better KBL lead pairs turn out to be from the same talent agency and to have at least socially known each other before filming. I've never cared enough to look into it, but I would take an educated guess at 50% or so.

It's all about networking in ET.

[chancellorxofxtrash]

opinions on the Geats cast now and what are your hopes for the endgame.

I just think they are neat

I love trickster characters who occasionally even fool themselves with their own trickeries. Lies upon lies upon lies. Ace was lying to his fellow constentants, the DGP, his real family too probably, and to himself. He'd try to keep the others at arms' length and act flippant, but still fundamentally a good person. And he really is losing it - both with having let them get too close to him, and just everything unraveling around him. I love him so much. And he's still ready to do anything because all these lives of his, he went through so many things just to find her mother - and he'd do anything to get her back. Anything to free her.

Keiwa is... I understand a kids' show needs comic relief, but I'm just tired of it always being Keiwa, and always after he just seemed to hit some kind of treshold in his character development. But god, I love him. He's just a Good Boy. I love a Good Boy. I want him to break down and snap and and go on a rampage before calming down. He earned it. Pop off babyboy.

Neon is just such a good one, and probably my favourite female rider I had seen so far. The escapism, the depression, the identity issues inherent from finding out you were created for one reason, one reason you don't seem to fulfill anymore. Wanting to disappear. I love her so much and I wish I could hug her.

Michinaga. SIGH. My love for Michinaga is pretty well-documented at this point. I love vengeance-driven assholes. He will set himself on fire to make the world burn, and I love him so much for it. He's destructive and angry, and probably also lies to himself that he doesn't care about anyone else, there are no Kamen Riders, and even there are some vaguely Better(tm) ones, he is too far gone at this point. And still, he wasn't murdering them when he did his culling. I love him.

I love Tsumuri so much and I am so happy she is getting more focus and development now. I love her and I need her to be on my screen More.

Win is my babygirl and I love him dearly. He's just so fucking fun. I missed him so badly.

I miss Sae, and I wish she would have stuck around longer. She was neat.

I am one of the four people who enjoy Daichi's nonsense, lmao. He's so pathetic and horrible! He thinks he is in Death Note! He is so horrible! I love him dearly. It was also funny when he went through Lamentation with basically only chewing on popcorn to watch the drama and did nothing else. I wish he would have done more horrible things - well there is still time.

Sara is sweet. I don't have anything else to say about her. I hope she gets a Buckle, even if not on the show, then in a vcine or something.

Girori was a fun initial villain. Chirami was funny as fuck. Suel is amazing if he really is gonna be the final boss and I hope he NEVER stops being anything else but a floating outfit.

I love the disaster sponsor gang. I love Ziin and his mess. He's a total mess, but I love how he became steadfast, and didn't even turn his back on Ace even though Ace wants to destroy his beloved DGP. I love his character development. He is a disaster blue fox and I love him.

I love Kyuun. I love how he's a socially awkward mess, who always puts his foot into his mouth most the time, and struggling to be genuine. I miss him. Dumb lion boy.

I don't know why people are shocked about Kekera, lol. He looks like a yakuza, dresses like a yakuza, talks like a yakuza, why are people shocked when he started to act like a yakuza too? Of course he will do messy shit to put his blorbo into sitations! And I love him.

Once again I am one of the five people who actually love Beroba, and the vicious violent hatred against her in the tags is highkey making me uncomfortable. My horrible daughter who did everything wrong, and I hope she never gets redeemed. She's just such a delightful and fun villain. I love her so much. One day I will write a character study about her, I swear to god.

Niram sexy. I thought he might have more to do but I really love him, I love the air he gives off, I loved the few times he transformed and his fighting style. That's it. Bit bummed it seems like he won't be the final boss, but Suel will do fine. Niram can just stand there and look sexy.

Samas seems like a girlboss, but I don't know enough about her to really care.

Endgame...

The DGP has to burn. Mitsume will probably die, and the most Ace will get out of her was either a final powerup, or a hug, or both, and not much else. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd die before the end of the show either, with Suel forcing Tsumuri into her role.

(Can you imagine? Suel laughing about "want me too free your mother? sure!" and Mitsume's statue is falling apart, while Tsumuri is screaming and taking her place? It'd be so cruel and I could totally imagine it.)

I want all of them to have one more powerup. I want Keiwa to snap, go on a bit of a rampage, before circling back. I want Neon, Ace and Michinaga all realize they are... not alone anymore. They can lean on each other now.

I want them to henshin side by side, the four of them, for the final battle - just like the Doctor Riders went to face off Chronus at the end of Ex-Aid. Just like the four riders walked up to Evolt before the final fights of Build. I want them to be an united front for the first time, all of them reaching the conclusion that the DGP has to go. (Keiwa and Neon has a bit more development to go through before that, of course. But in the end.)

I wish we would see the four of them remember.

I want the four of them to remember, and being together in the end (well. you know. obviously not Together Together on my screen, but like, in each others' orbit).

I don't find it unlikely that they'd maybe. Forget. Because the story would end with a hard reset, erasing the DGP. I'm not sure if Ace would or not - I wouldn't be surprised if the show would be mean and let Ace be the only one who remembers. WHICH WOULD BE EVEN WORSE THAN BUILD. AT LEAST SENTO HAD BANJOU. AAAARGH.

I know vcines and other movies would fix it, but I AM STILL TERRIFIED OF IT. I would need to write so much about it.

Anyway I want them to fight together, the DGP to fuck back off into the future (Beroba maybe dragged back, to maybe, you know, be a vcine or special villain later on), and then possibly either being in each others' orbit in the end, or at least looking for each other.

I think it'd be funny if all of them would forget (Ace actually being granted the mercy of forgetting would be nice), and yet STILL would end up around each other. Drawn together. But that's definitely just wistful thinking from me.

[natedogx15]

Kamen Rider Deku Mission 22: Spying

Previous Chapter / AO3 / Master list

In Deika City, specifically, the office for Skeptic's personal use when he's not at his company, the man sits in a chair before two Meta Liberation Army members. However, he isn't planning to make these two into Nomu. He's planning to have them shadow the next Warrior sent after the Kamen Riders to learn more about their traitorous benefactors. While the other executives want to be more cautious about how they handle this situation, Skeptic wants to try learning more about them immediately. He didn't try before because Re-Destro requested he didn't try and risk exposing them while trying to learn more about the Nomu.

However, things are different now. Seeing what Giran did to Re-Destro made him want to learn more about the Nomu fast. He knows they'll likely betray the M.L.A. soon, and he needs to find something to keep that from happening or take them down with the cause. As such, he looked for a few M.L.A. Warriors with amazing Meta Abilities for espionage.

"What do you need us to do, sir?" A skinny man in a blue polo shirt, jeans, and sneakers asks.

His body is slightly mutated, giving him bat-like ears. These ears are unrelated to his Meta Ability but give him a bonus power.

Hearing the man's question causes the person next to him to winch while Skeptic's scowl deepens. He then stands up and begins repeatedly poking the man in the head.

"Haven't you noticed that your friend has been missing for weeks? Did you also not see Geten training his powers with a device? Obviously not. If you used your brain, you would realize I called you to help our situation by spying." Skeptic says in a condescending tone as he pokes the man's head, causing the bat-eared man to grow nervous and worried about upsetting one of the executives.

"I-I'm sorry, s-sir. I'll save my questions and use my brain next time." The man quickly apologizes to Skeptic while fumbling with his words at the beginning.

Skeptic scoffs at the man but stops his barrage of finger jabs to sit back down.

"Good. Since you already wasted our time asking such an unneeded question, I'll have to explain more to you. I want to ensure you understand what I want from you." Skeptic states, annoyed by the sudden setback, but wants to get results.

"I've called you both here to investigate a recent benefactor. They're the ones who've been supplying us with items to strengthen our army." Skeptic states before gauging the reactions of the two.

The bat-eared man is nodding along so far. However, the other one is silent, waiting for the executive to continue, knowing there is likely more to the story.

Unlike the bat-eared man, the man sitting next to him is dressed much more formally, like a bartender. Like the bat-eared man, he has the features of an animal, but it doesn't have anything to do with his Meta Ability. He has white fur with black marks growing from his neck and cheeks. This fur makes him seem like a humanoid white tiger.

After a moment, Skeptic decides to continue.

"However, this same benefactor has been causing us problems lately. They're likely the ones causing our warriors to vanish." Skeptic states but doesn't tell the two about how Giran has been directly attacking Re-Destro.

He's not foolish enough to give out that kind of sensitive information to people he knows may be facing someone with a mental Meta Ability. He's already taking a major risk sending these two after Giran and the people creating the Nomu. Having Giran learn that the executives know about his appearance and what he's been doing is begging for trouble. The only reason he's willing to do this now is because he's set up some things to help him disappear if things go wrong. He'll immediately know if it fails since he'll observe the operation through drones.

"So, we investigate these guys and grab as much information as we can," The bat-eared man states with a grin.

Skeptic nods and holds his tongue about the bat-eared man's unneeded statement while the tiger man asks a question.

"What are the threats we'll face?" He doesn't think it's a question Skeptic will get after him for.

And he's right. After all, not many Meta Liberation Warriors know about the specifics of the Nomu or Giran. So, it's a question Skeptic won't get after the tiger man for.

"Yes. You might be facing different Nomu. Watch out for a specific one. One of them has dangerous mental powers. You must move cautiously, or you'll get caught, and they'll learn about your mission easily, putting the cause at risk." Skeptic warns the two.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll handle this without any problem. How do we find them, though?" Bat-Eared Man asks curiously, causing Skeptic to sigh.

"We'll be using bait. You'll be silently tailing a Warrior we're sending after the Kamen Riders. They won't know about you two following them. Don't make contact with the Warrior, and keep from anyone's sight. Do you understand?" Skeptic says in a dangerous voice that shows how serious he is.

The two quickly nod, and Skeptic continues.

"Do your best to get some information on our benefactor. Any information will be useful." Skeptic states.

The two nod again, and Skeptic sends them off. After he does, he pulls out his laptop and ensures all his surveillance drones are ready to give him an extra perspective on what's happening during the mission. Everything seems to be working fine, causing him to grin as he realizes he's ready for the mission.

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

Not knowing about Skeptic's plan, Re-Destro has decided to try a different approach with the Kamen Riders. They've tried many things to take the Hero Drivers but haven't been able to do anything. They've used strength, speed, numbers, and even fighting against the Kamen Riders in the air. However, none of these ideas have worked. He never expected two kids with Meta Abilities to give them such trouble. So, he's going to be far more subtle this time.

As such, he's making a similar move to Skeptic and chooses someone with a Meta Ability relying on espionage instead of a more impressive ability.

"Do you understand what I need you to do?" Re-Destro asks the woman in front of him in a kind and welcoming tone.

"It shouldn't be a problem, sir. All I need to do is follow them and grab the Hero Drivers before either notice." The woman nods.

Unlike the two Skeptic chose for his mission, the person Re-Destro chose lacks animal characteristics and looks relatively ordinary. She's a woman in her late twenties with short, messy, brown hair, slightly tanned but light skin, grey eyes behind square-framed blue and black glasses, and slightly plump cheeks. She's dressed in a stylish black jacket over a pink short-sleeve, with blue jeans and black boots.

"Yes, I would have preferred us defeating them in a battle to show our strength. However, each attempt has failed so far. As such, we'll need to change our strategy." Re-Destro says, his voice slightly irritated before he manages to calm down and not worry the woman before him.

However, the woman doesn't seem too bothered by his subtle tone change and confidently takes the Nomu Coin that depicts an image of a tiny figure inside a more massive figure. She also grabs one of the inhaler-like devices Re-Destro offers her since this mission might take a while, and he needs her in the best mental state possible without the Proto Driver.

"If it's stealth you need, I'm your girl." She says confidently.

"Glad to hear it. I love that kind of enthusiasm in our Warriors. I expect great things from you, Kobayashi." Re-Destro announces in an equally enthusiastic tone.

"Yes, sir." The woman salutes. 

As she's about to get up, while taking the Kamen Rider information on Re-Destro's desk, something occurs to her when she realizes K.E.M.'s information isn't there.

"Before you go, try making a spectacle while getting the Hero Drivers. Something that drops some of the morale of the heroes for our future attack." Re-Destro smiles, causing Kobayashi to nod before she realizes something.

"Sir, what about the explosive Kamen Rider?" Kobayashi asks.

Hearing this question causes Re-Destro to pause. Of course, he considered sending Kobayashi after Katsuki despite Shinonome's allegiance due to his attitude. However, hearing her question causes him to reconsider his stand with the Kamen Rider. Kobayashi patiently waits as her leader taps a finger on his desk for a moment before opening one of the drawers and taking out a file.

"For now, focus on the two Kamen Riders close to each other. I'll call you later when I've made a decision." Re-Destro tells her, causing Kobayashi to nod, but she can't help throwing out one last word.

"If you're sure, I think we'd be doing everyone a favor by taking his device, too." She shrugs before walking out of the room.

Now that he's alone, he leans back in his chair and looks at the ceiling while contemplating his choices. Kobayashi isn't wrong. K.E.M. still seems too much of a wild card despite Slidin' Go and Shinonome's best efforts. However, he's been leaving it in what he believes is Shinonome's capable hands until now. But now, he thinks it would be better to cut their losses if this next plan doesn't work and just claim K.E.M.'s Hero Driver instead. Of course, part of what stops him from doing that is that the Hero Public Safety Commission will want to know where the Hero Driver went, risking their exposure. As such, their only real option is to attack K.E.M. with a Nomu to steal the Hero Driver to cover up the existence of the Meta Liberation Army.

"It may be for the best if we focus our efforts on getting rid of K.E.M. if this next move doesn't work." Re-Destro decides to give defeating the other Kamen Riders one more chance.

But if it doesn't work this time, he'll have no choice but to get rid of K.E.M., whether by simply claiming his Hero Driver or coming up with a more permanent solution.

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

It has been a few days since that meeting, and Izuku and Shiki are still unaware that someone is hunting for them. They've been going about their days without a care in the world. Well, with as little care as possible while waiting for the next Nomu attack. The two have been doing their best to prepare for the last several days. All Might has been training them hard physically, Hisashi and David are helping them technologically, and they've been working on their fighting technique together. More specifically, Shiki has been training Izuku to help him learn how to fight properly while Izuku is helping him figure out the Power Coins. Currently, the two are talking about who they think the next Kamen Rider will be.

"It'll probably be Yaoyorozu. She has the best Quirk of the three. Plus, she is getting into U.A. by recommendation." Shiki tells Izuku with a shrug.

"Are you sure? I think Melissa and Sero have a chance." Izuku tells him.

"They might." Shiki nods, but he doubts it.

"I guess we'll have to see." Izuku lightly laughs at his friend's indifference to the situation.

In the few days they've been training, the Kamen Rider hopefuls finished their trials. Now, everyone nervously waits for the results. Well, the majority are. Shiki is the only one remaining calm about it. He thinks any of the three will be alright to work with. None can be as horrible as K.E.M., after all. So, he's taking everything in stride.

"Speaking of which, we haven't tested that secret weapon you told me about yet." Shiki points out. 

His words refer to the Creation Power Coin. The two still haven't tested to see what it'll do with the Hero Driver or their weapons. Hearing his words causes Izuku to give him an apologetic look.

"Sorry. I don't know if we should use it in training." He apologizes.

Shiki shrugs, understanding Izuku's point. If the Power Coin has enough power to take down the Nomu that threw them around like ragdolls, it might be dangerous to use outside battle. However, there's another point to consider.

"A lot of the time, it's best to test something before you actually use it instead of blindly trusting it. We're less likely to get hurt in the future if we test it now." Shiki points out, causing Izuku to nod after a moment.

He then puts a hand to his chin before saying.

"You're right. But I wonder what the Quirk will do when combined with the nanobots. Nanobots can't create lipids like humans. Will it make us unable to use the Quirk? Or will that problem be substituted by the cloning ability of the nanobots by having them replicate whatever we try to create in the same way they replicate Quirks?" Izuku mutters as he thinks about what might happen once they use the Power Coin.

Shiki silently listens to his friend, having long since learned to deal with Izuku's muttering habit. It doesn't bother him. If anything, he's impressed with Izuku's lung capacity. The last time he secretly timed it, Izuku managed to go on for ten minutes without taking a breath. It honestly amazes him how much Izuku can speak and cry. He does both things at a level where they may as well be Quirks. Shiki thinks this latest rant took around three minutes before Izuku realizes what he's been doing and blushes in embarrassment.

"S-sorry about that." He stutters slightly, still trying to get over those habits.

"It's fine. If I had to guess, I'd say the nanobots will make the stuff for us." Shiki explains in an uncaring tone like he's not affected by Izuku's perceived creepy habit.

"You think so?" He asks while inwardly happy that Shiki still doesn't seem to care.

"Yeah. It would make sense, right?" He asks for confirmation since Izuku knows more about this than he does.

Izuku nods in agreement. It makes the most sense for the Power Coin to replicate the Quirk by having the nanobots act as a replacement for the sacrifice in lipids that Momo would usually do to make things.

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

Outside the school, Bat Man and Tiger Man do their best to be inconspicuous while waiting for the Nomu to leave the school grounds. Tiger Man is even changed out of his bartending outfit and into more casual clothes. The duo is in a medium-sized bookstore near the school, looking at different covers.

"Has she moved yet?" Bat Man asks impatiently, causing Tiger Man to sigh.

"No, she hasn't moved yet. That means the Kamen Riders are likely still in school." Tiger Man states in a tired tone as he reads the back of a book that catches his interest.

"Why are the Kamen Riders even in a school? Don't tell me they're high school students." Bat Man states in annoyance.

"They could easily be teachers, too. Some pro heroes have to take side jobs to make ends meet." Tiger Man tells his partner.

"Why is she taking so long? It's weird. All she has to do is take the Hero Drivers. She can even attack them while they're untransformed. It shouldn't be taking her this long to finish." Bat Man states, causing Tiger Man to sigh again.

However, he does see Bat Man's point. He's wondering what's taking Kobayashi so long to complete this mission. It's not like it doesn't benefit them, though. They're supposed to learn more about the organization giving them Nomu, not get the Hero Drivers. If her mission fails because she's taking her time, that makes theirs easier. He can't say he isn't getting worried, though.

"We can't do anything about it. Just wait and see what happens. Skeptic won't get angry at us if there's nothing we can do since her mission succeeds. All we can do is wait to see how things play out." Tiger Man finally states.

"What is our luck? We get sent on the mission to follow someone who isn't going to cause a rampage but is trying to be stealthy." Bat Man groans as he boredly looks at a book before opening the first few pages.

"Nothing we can do about it. Just be glad Skeptic could put a tracker on her before she left. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for us to keep track of her." Tiger Man informs him.

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

With Kobayashi, she's currently hanging on the ceiling in the corner of the lunch room. No one can see her because her Meta Ability allows her to shrink to the size of a few inches. She's also using some extra support equipment Re-Destro gave her for this mission, including a grappling hook.

The first few days she arrived, she was getting used to the city layout, and it took her a while to figure out where the Kamen Riders were from her provided information. After that, she's trying to figure out how to get both Hero Drivers simultaneously so the other Kamen Rider can't transform while she's taking the Driver from one. The problem is she can't figure out how to do that. She considered attacking while at the apartments. However, she worries that any possible struggle will alert the other apartment residents and later alert the other Kamen Rider.

Attacking them right now is a tempting offer, but she worries the chaos after the initial shock of seeing a Nomu will let the Kamen Riders escape. She can't shrink other people and only objects she's touching. But she'll be defenseless if she tries to grab the Hero Drivers and run while shrunken. She can't even get close without risking being stepped on.

"Do I use the Nomu Coin now to go on a rampage? Or should I attack them at home?" Kobayashi mutters as she tries to figure out what to do.

"They've already taken down a lot of us. So, it wouldn't be smart to fight them head-on. Maybe I should take one of them down and test my luck one-on-one. If I'm lucky, they won't even know I'm around, and I can get the other Hero Driver." Kobayashi decides that might be the best course of action.

With that in mind, she finally decides when she'll make her move. She'll hit them when they return home and try to take them down separately.

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

Meanwhile, Hisashi and David are giving someone the Hero Driver. With it, they also hand the person a manual similar to the one Shiki got.

"Remember, you should be careful when you first transform. It'll be different from the simulation. You'll feel the difference in ability almost immediately. You should practice somewhere before you use it in combat." David advises the person.

They silently nod in understanding, and it's Hisashi's turn to say something.

"So, are you planning to make a dramatic debut? Or are you going to show my son and his friend?" Hisashi asks with a grin.

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

Later that day, Izuku and Shiki are walking back to their apartments. Hisashi took the Plus Striker to make some adjustments, leaving Izuku wheeless. While walking, Izuku notices Shiki glancing around them, seemingly suspicious of something.

"Are you okay?" He worriedly asks his friend.

"Do you feel like someone is watching us?" He asks as he continues looking around.

Izuku blinks at the sudden question before looking around. Something has felt off lately. However, he couldn't place what was wrong until now.

"It has felt weird lately. Maybe someone is keeping an eye on us to protect us." Izuku suggests.

It would make sense, given that they're the Kamen Riders. Having people looking after them in secret wouldn't be out of place, especially since one is the son of one of the inventors of the Hero Drivers and the other is the grandson of the Hero Public Safety Commission. However, Shiki isn't sure if he's right. He'll have to keep an eye out, just in case. He'll talk to his grandpa later, too.

"You might be right. We'll see. Just be careful." Shiki tells Izuku, causing Izuku to nod, knowing they were attacked at the apartments once.

Security has been updated since then, though. Thanks to his dad. Heroes have also been patrolling the area around the apartments more lately. So, they should be alright. They'll at least have enough time to transform. There are other measures besides this, such as some protection for Izuku's mom.

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

Atop different buildings, Kobayashi watches the two from afar through binoculars on a rooftop. While doing so, she can't help but question her current situation.

"Stalking a couple of high school kids is not something I thought I'd be doing for the cause." Kobayashi sighs before she pulls out a granola bar.

While chewing on it, she watches the two boys enter a tunnel. Seeing this causes her to stand up and quickly jump across the rooftops to chase after them. As she does, she changes her height to half what it usually is to make it harder for people to spot her. It takes her a while to catch up to the two, not knowing two others are still watching her.

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

"Come on. Hurry up and lose already so we can get our mission started." Bat Man grunts as he impatiently taps his finger on the table while holding his phone in the other hand to observe the tracker's location.

"It'll be fine. The tracker should stay on her. Besides, we know where she's going." Tiger Man calmly speaks to his partner as the two walks.

"Should we call Skeptic and ask him if we should forget about the mission?" Bat Man asks, causing Tiger Man to shake his head.

"You can ask him, but I can tell you now he won't like the idea." Tiger Man warns, causing Bat Man to scowl.

"Do you think she's going to do something soon?" Bat Man asks for what feels like the hundredth time for Tiger Man.

"I don't know; she'll probably do something soon. We can wait in the car until it happens." Tiger Man states, looking forward to reading the books he bought.

"This is not how I thought this mission would go." Bat Man mutters in annoyance, wishing they could do something, even steal the Hero Drivers themselves.

"I prefer things like this. It's easier for us in the end." Tiger Man shrugs as they pick up the pace slightly to catch up with Kobayashi.

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

With Kobayashi herself, she catches up to the two before they climb the apartment stairs. She watches as they split up and decides it would be best to start by going after the one who seems to live alone. Since she started spying on the Kamen Riders, she has never seen anyone other than Shiki enter or exit his apartment. Even when she stayed behind instead of following them, she never saw anyone but Shiki enter. While she wonders about that, she won't look a gift horse in the mouth. Her job becomes easier if there are fewer people to cause a commotion.

"Hopefully, the security inside isn't bad," Kobayashi mutters before she reaches into her pocket to ensure she hasn't lost the Nomu Coin somewhere.

Luckily, it seems like she didn't lose it. She'll be ready for the next phase of her mission when it gets dark. She'll attack when the Kamen Riders are most vulnerable.

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

Later that night, Shiki is walking around his apartment. He then peaks through the curtains to see if he can see anything. He's already called his grandfather to talk about his concerns today. Luckily, it seems like he listened and told Shiki he'd have some heroes pay extra close attention to the apartments tonight to put him at ease.

"Not like that will help me; when I'm paranoid, I'll wake up to a hero crashing through my wall," Shiki mutters before closing the curtains.

After taking one last survey of his living room before heading to his room. However, not before making sure the alarm system Hisashi installed is working. If anyone enters his room, an alarm will go off to alert him and the Midoriyas. After ensuring it's still on, he finally heads to bed... while keeping something under his bed, just in case.

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

At the same time, Izuku is checking his latest Quirk notes for areas of improvement. However, he soon notices the time and decides to head to bed. He feels safer than Shiki does about people possibly watching them, trusting his father's words that no one will surprise them with his security measures in place.

However, that doesn't stop him from staring at his ceiling while having trouble sleeping from worry. His mind suddenly runs through various scenarios where his family is in danger. These thoughts keep flooding his brain and cause him to get off his bed to peek down the hall. When he sees nothing, he lets out a sigh.

"Calm down, everything will be okay." He tries to calm himself before looking at his bedroom desk, where his notes are.

"Maybe going over my notes again will calm my nerves." He thinks before walking toward the desk.

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

Outside the apartment complex, Kobayashi notes that the two families are finally going to bed. With a grin, she decides it's time to activate this Power Coin. She places it on her arm like a patch and can feel the tingling sensation of nanobots entering her body. In a few seconds, her body starts burning as the nanobots work their magic, increasing in number and beginning to affect her body's constitution.

Soon, her body grows, and her muscle definition increases with her growing body density. She can also feel her face changing and her skull opening to expose her brain. It's a crazy feeling for her and makes her wonder if this is how people with transformation-type Meta Abilities feel. If it is, she'll be glad to never do it again after today.

After the transformation finishes, she's stuck in dark red pants over her pitch-black legs with a matching sports bra. Her Nomu appearance is like a female version of the Egyptian god Ra's depictions, with tendrils falling on the sides of her head like the depiction of a pharaoh's head crown. Her body is a few inches taller but far more muscular. She now has a lean but muscular physique that's not uncommon with other Nomu before her. She even has some dark red wrappings on her wrists and ankles.

Taking a moment to adjust to her new body, Kobayashi feels weirdly naked as she clenches and unclenches her hands multiple times.

"Ugh. I'm not going to get used to this. I can't wait for this to be over." She grunts as she rolls her shoulders and stretches to get used to the new body.

Luckily, she can feel the power that comes with this new body and the knowledge of how to use her new Meta Ability.

"Let's get this over with." Kobayashi sighs before scanning the area for any of the patrolling heroes. She sees one around the corner but thinks she can slip past them without becoming tiny.

Just in case, though, she shrinks to about a third of her usual height to help her slip by. It seems to work, as she manages to duck behind something right as the patrolling hero turns their head in her direction. She waits there before shrinking to her smallest size and peeking from her spot to see what the hero is doing. She watches as the hero walks in her direction before they pass by. As they do, Kobayashi, or Shrinking Nomu, can hear them muttering.

"I don't get why the Commission wants us to patrol this area more often. It seems perfectly peaceful."

After watching the hero walk a fair distance away, Shrinking Nomu regrows to a third of her size and runs for the parking lot. She doesn't immediately run for the stairs, though. Instead, she ducks under a car and looks around for anyone who might be up. When she sees no one is around, she shrinks to about half her current size and runs for the stairwell, hoping nothing can catch her in the dark while at this size.

"Ugh, this is the worst part of my power." Shrinking Nomu groans as she rapidly climbs the stairs at her size.

After a while, she gets to Shiki's floor and shrinks even further until she's a few inches tall. She then runs down the hallway like she's running a marathon. It takes some time for Shrinking Nomu at her current size to reach Shiki's door. However, she's surprised she's not out of breath by the time she reaches it.

"I guess this new form does have more perks than giving me an extra power." She grins. Well, she does her best to, given her beak.

She walks under the door crack and looks around Shiki's living room. Of course, she can't see much at her current height. But she can't grow back to a noticeable size without the risk of security cameras or setting off a possible alarm. That's where her new Meta Ability comes in.

"Alright, I should have done this earlier, but let's see what this puppy can do." She mutters before crouching.

With a surprising amount of leg strength that shouldn't be possible, Shrinking Nomu jumps off the floor and lands on the living room table with ease. She's surprised by how effective her new power is.

"Dang. I might as well be a grasshopper with how far I can jump. I definitely should have done this from the start." She mutters as she looks around for the Hero Driver but doesn't see it.

"Of course, he wouldn't have it in the open. It's probably in his room." She groans before jumping down the hall to reach the rooms.

She checks each room until she reaches the third door and sees Shiki lying in his bed.

"Perfect." She says before entering the room and jumping atop one of the wall-mounted shelves to get a full view of the room.

"Huh. This room is way more tidy than my brothers' rooms." She notes in a slightly impressed tone before searching for the Hero Driver.

She can't see the Hero Driver anywhere. However, that isn't strange, as he likely hid it.

"Not a problem. I have eight to ten hours to find it and the other one." She says while rubbing her hands together in preparation to get to work.

She jumps off the shelf and runs toward Shiki's computer desk to start her search for the Hero Driver. She jumps into one of the drawers and looks for the Hero Driver, even checking for a false bottom. She repeats this process for all four drawers of his desk but can't find anything. Having searched for so long, she can feel herself growing more aggressive and impatient, causing her to pull out the inhaler and take it quickly.

"Man. How did those other guys handle these after-effects?" She muses before continuing her search.

She moves under Shiki's bed to see if it's anywhere under there but can't find anything. She then moves to his closet, but that's also a dead end in her search. She considers the idea it's nowhere in his room until she remembers something her brothers did while growing up and looks at the sleeping Shiki. More specifically, she looks at his pillow.

"Let's see what dirty secrets you're hiding under there." She enthusiastically says as she jumps on the bed frame.

She then jumps onto Shiki's pillow and sneaks under it to see what he's hiding under the bed. To her happiness, it's the Hero Driver under it with one of his hands resting atop it.

"Perfect." She grins as she moves to the Hero Driver and reaches for it.

While she's worried that Shiki will suddenly wake up when he feels the Hero Driver vanish, she doubts he can do much once he loses the Hero Driver. So, she shrinks the Hero Driver to her size immediately. However, she gets slammed into the bed frame the next second by a fully awake and slightly panicked Shiki.

Shiki feels the back of his hand slam into something other than the bed frame. The whole time, he wasn't completely asleep. His paranoia from the feeling of being watched kept him up. However, he didn't expect to lose the Hero Driver like this. With that in mind, he hastily throws his pillow out of the way to see what or who took the Hero Driver from him. What he sees adds to his surprise. It's the tiny Shrinking Nomu crouching in slight pain.

"That's another thing I hate about my ability. It makes it feel like a truck hits me every time." She groans before noticing Shiki about to slam his fist onto her.

"That's not going to happen." She snaps at him as she stands up and rears her fist back.

When her tiny fist connects with Shiki's incoming hand, it produces a surprising amount of force that sends Shiki's hand flying back and throws him off the bed. On the floor, he holds his wrist in pain while trying to figure out what happened. He soon gets his answer when Shrinking Nomu grows to her original size and grabs him by the neck.

"Morning, Sunshine." She mockingly laughs at him as she keeps a firm grip on Shiki's neck to prevent him from doing anything.

Shiki defiantly looks at the Nomu holding him in her grasp and desperately tries to get out of her grip. However, there's nothing he can do against her enhanced strength. All he can do is try to escape by kicking at the Nomu's face and chest while trying to pry her fingers off. Much to the amusement of Shrinking Nomu as she stares at his struggle while smiling inwardly. Realizing that she has plenty of time to get the other Hero Driver and Shiki has no way to tell anyone about her existence, she decides to have more fun.

"Do you want this? Or are you trying to get free to call your friend for help?" She asks while playfully shaking the Hero Driver just out of Shiki's reach.

Shiki growls when he sees this and glares at her with eyes of pure hatred. With those eyes gazing at her, he begins to struggle even more violently as he does his best to do something to free himself from her grasp. However, nothing he does affects her. His struggle impresses and amuses her slightly, though.

"Why are you trying so hard? Is it to prove you didn't get this only through nepotism? Or is there something more?" She inquires while continuing to hold Shiki without much trouble.

Hearing her question causes Shiki to growl before he speaks for the first time during their conversation.

"None of your fucking business!" He does his best to shout as he refuses to give up.

However, his words cause Shrinking Nomu's grip on his neck to tighten, obviously not liking being cursed at.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to someone trying to strike up a conversation." She tells him in a slightly more forceful tone.

Shiki can feel it becoming more difficult for him to breathe, causing his mind to do its best to figure out how to escape. So, he changes his tactic by wrapping his arms and legs around Shrinking Nomu's arm before he puts all his effort into twisting the limb to dislocate something. His captor watches this struggle with eyes of slight pity. That only lasts a second before she drops them on the floor and slams Shiki's back into it to stop his attempt. It works, as Shiki can feel himself lose his breath.

However, it opens a new opportunity for him. He fights through the pain and reaches under his bed for a remote that Shrinking Nomu put no thought into while searching for the Hero Driver. She will soon regret it when Shiki presses the single button on the remote. While nothing immediate happens in the room, it does do something.

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

In Izuku's room, a red alarm comes out of the ceiling and begins ringing for him and his parents to hear at the other end of the hall. The remote Shiki used is one of two meant to alert the other Kamen Rider if something is happening in the presser's apartment. It's something Hisashi installed about in case someone got past the alarms set in the living room. When Izuku hears that alarm, his eyes widen in horror, and he quickly grabs the Hero Driver and Power Coins.

He bursts out of his room right as Hisashi and Inko peek their heads out of their room.

"Izuku?" Inko asks worriedly, causing Izuku to shout.

"I'll be back soon!" He shouts as he slams open the front door.

Before he's out of earshot, he can hear his father say.

"I'll call the heroes. Try to get whoever is attacking outside!"

Izuku mentally acknowledges his words while putting the Hero Driver around his waist. He then inserts the Rabbit Power Coin and transforms, with the Hero Driver announcing.

"Kamen Rider Deku!"

In this form, he throws himself off the ledge before grabbing onto the one below his floor where Shiki lives. He then rushes toward Shiki's door before slamming it open.

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

Shrinking Nomu's head turns when she hears something crash while she holds an out-of-breath Shiki. She's been trying to get Shiki to tell her what that remote did. However, Shiki hasn't gathered enough breath to explain to her, not that he would have anyway.

"What was that?" She tensely asks as she can hear footsteps rushing toward the rooms.

The next second, she sees Deku slam the door off its hinges with the Mighty Knuckle in his dominant hand. When the Kamen Rider sees Shiki in Shrinking Nomu's hand, he shouts at her.

"Let him go!"

He charges at her with the Mighty Knuckle drawn back. However, Shrinking Nomu puts Shiki between them to prevent him from throwing a punch. When she sees Deku stumbling as he tries to stop, she takes this chance to throw Shiki at Deku before shrinking to a few inches tall.

Deku and Shiki hit the ground, and Shiki starts coughing before rapidly sucking in air like a starving person eating for the first time in days.

"Are you okay?" Deku asks as he pushes Shiki off and grabs him by the shoulders to give support.

"G-get her." Shiki gasps out as he continues to recover.

Hearing this causes Deku to nod and look around the room. However, he didn't see Shrinking Nomu change her size. He's not sure where she went. However, he does know where she's going. With that in mind, he runs for the front door to try and prevent her from escaping. 

When he enters the living room, he still doesn't see her and decides she must have already run out the door. That is until he hears Shiki shout in a strained voice.

"She can shrink!"

Hearing this causes Deku's eyes to widen, and he quickly scans the room. Luckily, the targeting system in his helmet locks onto something, and the screen enhances to give a clear view of Shrinking Nomu on the table. She realizes he can see her when he stares directly at the table and can't help but let out what's on her mind.

"Oh crap."

Deku rushes toward her and goes to grab her, but Shrinking Nomu jumps over his hand at the last second before jumping off his arm immediately after landing. While she's in the air, Deku quickly turns around and scans the area for her. He finds her right as she lands on the ground and reaches for one of his Power Coins. He knows it'll be worse keeping track of her outside than inside and decides it would be best to keep her in Shiki's apartment until he can at least get the Hero Driver.

With that, he pulls out the Swamp Power Coin and inserts it into the Mighty Knuckle.

"Swamp Power Finish!" The Hero Driver announces as a swampy-colored aura surrounds the Mighty Knuckle before Deku slams it to the floor.

A path of mucky water appears between Deku and the door, capturing Shrinking Nomu and causing her to grow back to her regular height while covered in the sludge.

"Ew! What is this stuff?" She cringes while rapidly wiping it off her body.

Izuku isn't in the mood to answer, though. He can see the Hero Driver in her hand and quickly rushes for it. He draws back the Mighty Knuckle again, believing he can hit her now that she doesn't have anyone to throw at him and is distracted. However, Shrinking Nomu reacts quickly by shrinking to a third of her size, causing Deku to fly right over her before she regains her former height and slams a fist into Deku, sending him flying into the building across the street.

Deku groans in pain in the crater left by his impact into the building. That attack managed to get through his armor and hurt Izuku's body. As he's thinking about this, he can't help but wonder what combination of Quirks she has.

"That strike was powerful, and they can shrink." Izuku lists as he tries to figure out what she's doing.

However, he can't stay down long without risking Shrinking Nomu escaping. So, while thinking about her abilities, he jumps out of the hole and back toward the apartments in hopes she's still close by. Luckily, the patrolling heroes heard the commotion and rushed toward the apartment complex.

"Look, it's one of the Kamen Riders!" One of the heroes, who has butterfly wings and a disco outfit, shouts while pointing at Deku as he's landing in the parking lot next to them.

"What's happening?" Another, who looks like a demolition worker holding a sledgehammer, asks.

"A Nomu is attacking the apartment complex! Be careful and keep an eye out because she can shrink!" Deku explains to everyone, causing the heroes to either nod or groan.

"Ugh, I hate shrinkers. It's so hard to keep track of them." Demolition Man groans as he realizes how difficult this will be.

"Don't worry, I'll make it easier for us." Disco-Fly gives the two a thumbs up before flying in the air.

As he flies up, his wings shine brightly to illuminate the parking lot, making it far easier to search for Shrinking Nomu if she's already outside.

"Nice job!" Demolition Man shouts before looking around for Shrinking Nomu with Deku as other heroes start showing up, including Slugger.

They ask what's happening, and Demolition Man quickly explains the situation while Deku tries to find Shrinking Nomu again. However, he can't see her anywhere.

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

In a car, a few buildings down, the Meta Liberation Army spies see the commotion, and Bat Man looks excited.

"Finally, she's making a move. Now we can end this!" Bat Man happily shouts.

"Keep it down." Tiger Man tells him, wanting to keep from looking suspicious if they ever come over here while searching for Kobayashi.

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

Near Shiki's apartment, Shrinking Nomu hasn't left the building yet. She sees all the heroes swarming the parking lot and is uncertain about what to do. She's unsure if she can handle a Kamen Rider and all the different heroes. By her count, there are about seven heroes besides Deku. The only silver lining for her is that she doesn't recognize any of the heroes around, meaning none of them are big names.

As she looks over the ledge, Shiki emerges from his apartment and manages to spot her. She's so busy looking at the various heroes that she doesn't realize he's behind her until he slams a chair leg into her bag and sends her flying off the ledge. She doesn't have a chance to recover as she soon slams into the parking lot pavement. An elephant hero in a jumpsuit manages to hear her hitting the ground. He looks around until he sees Shrinking Nomu's miniature body pulling herself off the ground.

"There she is!" The Elephant shouts as he points at the downed Shrinking Nomu while she pulls herself off the ground, causing everyone to look in that direction and for Deku's helmet to lock onto her.

Back up on the apartment floors, Shiki sets down the chair before looking at the heroes as they do their best to surround the area despite being unable to see Shrinking Nomu. He then watches Deku charge forward to where Shiki assumes Shrinking Nomu is. He watches as Deku slams the Mighty Knuckle into the ground and can feel the small shockwave that comes from it before getting slammed into a car from the mini Nomu's punch.

"What happened?" Slugger asks in alert as he watches Deku recover from the attack he couldn't see.

"It must be the Nomu's second Quirk." Demolition Man states as he holds his hammer up defensively while looking around for the Nomu.

The other heroes follow his lead and become extra cautious while dealing with this Nomu as Deku recovers from the attack. His helmet relocks onto Shrinking Nomu as she jumps on a car. Realizing that he won't hit her with ordinary attacks, Deku decides to pull out another Power Coin to at least force her to change her size. With that in mind, he pulls out the Razor Edge Power Coin. However, Deku doesn't insert it into the Mighty Knuckle and inserts it directly into the Hero Driver.

"RAZOR POWER FINISH!" The Hero Driver shouts

The air around Deku seems to form into a couple dozen blades before flying at Shrinking Nomu. The Nomu tries to jump over all the blades, but she's stuck mid-air while one is coming directly at her, leaving her no choice but to grow to full size to avoid a grave injury. However, the blade still packs enough punch to cut through her stomach and leave a nasty horizontal gash there.

"You fucking brat!" She shouts in anger as her mind registers the pain, and she instinctively puts a hand to her stomach, helping get the other heroes' attention.

When the heroes see her injured, they can feel their confidence growing. With this newfound bravado, Slugger throws some explosive energy baseballs while The Elephant and Demolition Man charge forward. The other heroes are moving to the sides since most have mid-to-long-range Quirks and want to try cutting off her escape routes. But Deku worries at their reckless attacks since he knows the strength and skill this Nomu seemingly has.

"Wait! Don't charge in!" Deku shouts at the two charging heroes as he charges to stop them before anything can happen.

However, he doesn't get there in time. He watches as Shrinking Nomu shrinks to avoid Slugger's baseballs before regrowing and delivering two powerful punches that send The Elephant and Demolition Man flying in different directions. The Elephant even takes another hero out by flying into them.

"What did you expect? Did you think I couldn't pack a punch at my full size when I sent Bunny Boy flying while as big as a housefly?" She rhetorically asks the heroes around her as Deku stops and gets into a fighting pose.

Seeing this causes Shrinking Nomu to grow cautious. However, she believes she can beat him in a one-on-one fight. She's already outmaneuvered and sent him flying before. With that in mind, she gets into her fighting stance. The stand-off looks like something out of a movie, with Disco-Fly's lighting still in place as he nervously watches the two.

Watching from his floor, Shiki nervously stares at Deku, hoping his training will help.

"Come on." He prays as Deku slowly slides toward Shrinking Nomu while having his Mighty Knuckle ready to throw a bunch.

Despite Deku's slow approach toward her giving the other heroes more time to recover, his opponent doesn't seem to mind. She patiently waits for Deku to get into range without making noticeable moves. Suddenly, Deku charges before throwing a jab forward with the Mighty Knuckle. He purposely aims lower this time, hoping to hit her as she shrinks.

"Come on!" Deku mentally screams this plead as he watches Shrinking Nomu grow smaller while his punch goes forward.

Luckily, it seems like the world heard his pleas. His targeted punch lands dead-on, sending Shrinking Nomu flying onto the pavement. She quickly pulls herself up and looks at Deku in shock.

"Did he already adapt to me? Or was that a lucky punch?" She mentally asks as she internally panics.

That panic increases when she realizes the impact caused her to drop the Hero Driver, and it's now resting between them. Deku sees this, too, and bolts for the Hero Driver while Shrinking Nomu is still down. She watches as he grabs it before his body loosens from relief. Seeing this, she decides to take the chance to escape and try again later. She quickly shrinks before jumping away while Deku is distracted. The other heroes try to stop her, but her tiny build makes it hard to keep track of her, and she manages to jump off one to get further away.

When Deku sees this, he's about to chase after her before realizing it might be impossible in the dead of night. With great reluctance, he decides to back down for now and hopes they'll be able to handle her next attack. At least they know what to expect now, though. With that in mind, Deku jumps onto Shiki's floor and passes him the Hero Driver, much to Shiki's relief.

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

Elsewhere, Tiger Man watches as the tracker moves away from the apartment buildings and looks over to see no heroes chasing Shrinking Nomu.

"She might have done it." Tiger Man tells his partner in surprise, causing Bat Man to blink in surprise.

"Seriously?" He questions Tiger Man.

"She's running away right now, and no one is chasing her." Tiger Man informs him with a shrug.

"So, do we just go back?" Bat Man asks in confusion, causing Tiger Man to shake his head.

"No, we can see what happens to her now. If it seems like she's succeeded and nothing bad will happen to her, then we can leave." Tiger Man tells him, causing Bat Man to nod before Tiger Man starts the car to chase after Shrinking Nomu.

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

With Shrinking Nomu, she's jumping across various objects to get as far away from the heroes as possible before ducking under a vehicle. She turns around and finally realizes that there isn't anyone chasing after her.

"Damn it. That didn't go as planned. I shouldn't have messed around with that brat." She grunts as she laments her mistake today.

Now, they'll be better prepared for her. However, that doesn't mean she'll stop trying. She's confident she can handle this with her combination of Meta Abilities. All she has to do is take the risk of attacking them at school. As she's thinking about this, she barely has time to realize a tentacle is reaching out for her.

"What the hell!" She screeches as she jumps from under the car and regrows to her full size a few feet from where she was before.

When she turns around, she sees Giran in his Nomu form floating over the car she hid under.

"Who the hell are you? Why are you attacking me? Aren't you with the Meta Liberation Army?" She asks different questions in her statement as she tensely stares at the Nomu in front of her.

"Hahaha. You're quicker than the others I've had to deal with." She can hear someone laugh in her mind, causing her eyes to widen in alarm.

Hearing this causes her to jump further back by jumping atop a building to stare down at Giran. She wants to be as far away from him as possible until she figures out what's happening. While she does this, Giran continues the conversation with a hint of amusement.

"You almost had one of them, too. It's too bad we no longer need the Driver to further the Nomu research. It's no longer an important element. That's what the doctor tells me." Giran explains to Shrinking Nomu straight into her head.

She holds her head in slight pain as Giran continues to float over the car without a care in the world.

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

While this conversation is happening, Tiger Man and Bat Man are watching from around the corner. They're shocked to see the Nomus fighting each other before they realize Giran is one of the people Skeptic warned them about.

"Should we do something? Can he find where we are?" Bat Man asks Tiger Man nervously as he stares at the intimidating Nomu.

"Don't worry. With my Meta Ability, no one should notice our physical or mental appearance." Tiger Man says while keeping a hand on Bat Man's shoulder that he never noticed before.

Hearing this causes Bat Man to relax. He nods and they watch as Giran telekinetically lifts a car and throws it at Shrinking Nomu, who shrinks to disappear.

"This is going to be intense." Bat Man says, causing Tiger Man to nod.

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

After shrinking, Shrinking Nomu jumps off the building and lands on a fire hydrant. She hopes she disappeared from Giran's sight. However, she soon realizes something is wrong with her plan when she remembers how Giran found her under the car.

"He shouldn't have been able to see me while I'm at this height in the dark, much less realize I'm under a car. Don't tell me-" She mutters only to jump when she sees Giran launch some of her tentacles at her.

"You're right. I can sense your mental presence." Giran says in her mind.

Hearing this causes Shrinking Nomu to panic as she realizes it'll be worse escaping Giran than the heroes. Unlike her physical presence, she can't shrink her mental presence. Giran can keep track of her with ease. Her only hope is to escape using speed and get to Deika City or defeat Giran here. With that in mind, she decides to try running first by jumping off the pavement for one of the street lights.

However, Giran finally manages to grab her before she can get too far away.

"You're not escaping this time," Giran tells her while wrapping the tentacle around Shrinking Nomu's body.

To counter this, Shrinking Nomu regrows and launches a punch at Giran's tentacle. However, while the impact causes the tentacle to crash to the ground, it doesn't cause Giran to let her go. Instead, the tentacle wraps around her waist to grip her better. She growls as now it's her turn to struggle, not unlike when Shiki was at her mercy. She tries shrinking to create a gap, but Giran manages to adjust his grip as fast as her size changes.

"Let me go!" She shouts as she struggles against him as Giran sends more tentacles toward her.

Some help keep her in place by wrapping around her body, while Giran places a single one on her forehead. After it does, her struggles suddenly cease as her mind feels like it's going blank.

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

The two spies have gotten out of their car and are preparing to run at the two Nomu while they're fighting. They're waiting to follow Giran or quickly leave if something else happens. However, they're surprised at the one-sided fight they're witnessing. They never expected there to be such a divide between the Nomus.

"I guess this throws out our original plan of taking care of him while he's weak, so we have one less thing to worry about." Tiger Man sighs while his body tenses in nervousness.

The idea of having to fight and inevitably being captured by that monster causes him to become fearful. He can only hope they'll somehow avoid getting caught, but that's never guaranteed when walking into the enemy's turf.

"Hey, hey, hey, this is serious. What am I watching right now? It wasn't even close." Bat Man tells his partner as he can feel the same sense of danger welling up in his heart.

"Stay calm. We need to be ready. We still have to do this." Tiger Man tells his partner to try calming them both down.

"How are we supposed to compete with that? Are you sure your ability can keep us hidden?" Bat Man asks, to which Tiger Man doesn't have an answer.

They watch as Kobayashi loses her Nomu form and falls to the ground. To heighten their fear, it looks like she isn't even breathing. They then watch something else that shocks them beyond belief. A swirling dark portal opens behind Giran, and he transforms back into his regular form before going through it. As he's walking toward it, the two spies push down their fear and bolt after him. Thanks to Tiger Man's Meta Ability, Giran should have a hard time processing seeing them and shouldn't be able to hear their thoughts. He shouldn't even be able to notice their rushing footsteps.

It seems like that remains the truth. The two manage to slip through the portal behind Giran without much difficulty. After exiting the other side, they find themselves in an old motel. However, they haven't relaxed yet, still worried about whether Giran can feel their presence and how this will end for them. Luckily, it seems like nothing has changed. Giran doesn't seem to notice them at all. Without a care, he pulls out his phone to talk to someone, signaling they may be safe.

"I've taken care of another loose end," Giran tells the person immediately after they answer.

"How did they do this time?" Bat Man can hear on the other end.

"They're getting smarter. They actually used a shrinker with a Quirk that lets her hit like a truck." Giran explains.

" It won't matter since soon, we'll no longer need their services." Dr. Garaki tells Giran, shocking Bat Man and later Tiger Man since Bat Man was typing out what's being said on his phone for his partner to read.

They listen to the further plans with a nervous expression while continuing to hope they're not seen and can get an idea of where the person on the phone is. However, something unexpected happens. Giran suddenly starts coughing up a slight amount of blood before groaning.

"I take it your body requires treatment again?" Dr. Garaki asks, causing Giran to nod slightly.

"Yep. It's getting harder to use my abilities without feeling the side effects. I guess I'll have to come in for another treatment." Giran says with a good-natured laugh.

"Yes. I'll have the procedure set up when you get here." Dr. Garaki tells him, causing Giran to thank the doctor before hanging up the phone.

Learning this information and realizing they have the drop on him causes the two to consider whether they should keep going or stop here to find out where Giran lives for now. They soon get their answer when Giran stands up and exits his front door.

"I need some air. That usually helps." Giran mutters as the two slip past him before he closes the door.

They watch him sluggishly walk down the halls before turning a corner.

"Let's get out of here. We know where he's staying now. We can come back for the rest of the information. We should update Skeptic on what we've found so far." Tiger Man says in a low whisper.

Bat Man nods, and the two shuffle out of there. Today's mission is seemingly a partial success. While they didn't learn much about the people creating the Nomu Coins, they did learn some information about the supplier. That'll still be useful for Skeptic. Besides, as long as Giran doesn't move around before they can look for more information, they can keep an eye on him. Today has been one of the first successes for the Meta Liberation Army in a while, and they'd like to keep that going.

Power Coins Deku Rabbit, Draco-Breath, Charge, Marsh, Solidification, Unicorn, Overdrive, Wheels, Division, Bull, Barrier, Creation, Razor Edge, Mantis, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl

Chamber Rifle, Fierce Wings, Shadow Stalk, Gatling, Chameleon, Dragonfly, Sonar, Burrowing Drill, Sprouting, Terra-Wave, Deflection

King Explosion Murder Explosion

[somehowmags]

I saw a bit back that you started watching kamen rider gaim, what did you think of it??? its one i really enjoyed and i hope you did too

ive only gotten three episodes in alas bc of my attention problems but from what ive seen so far i like it! i like how the cgi just looks kind of goofy and fun and i'm really liking the protagonist too! it does that thing i find really funny in shows aimed at younger audiences where it puts life and death stakes on things that aren't necessarily really all that serious LMAO personally if some motherfucker came up to me and was like "you have to beat me in a fucked up pokemon battle and if you don't you have to disband your dance team and leave the city because i'm a social darwinist" i would just start hitting him with my shoes. parry this you fucking casual

it's also interesting coming at the series as a precure fan because im pretty sure kamen rider is supposed to be the equivalent series for boys? please correct me if that's not true LMAO but the difference between the series are so interesting. like the protags of kamen rider seem to be overall a lot older than the precure protagonists despite them being aimed at (i think) the same age group? i have also watched a couple episodes of the original kamen rider (very interesting going from that to shin kamen rider, gaim, and gavv LMAO) so im assuming that comes from the original series much like how cure black and cure white were in middle school and now we've only just gotten a college age cure. and ofc we now have the first boy cure and the first female secondary rider debuting in i think the same year which is very cool. ive gotta learn more about kamen rider i think the parallels are so interesting

ive also watched the first episode of gavv now and i loved it! im always a sucker (lmao) for a candy theme. itll probably be easier for me to keep up with this one too since i can just watch it on saturdays with wonderful precure aklsdjfhlaksdjfhslakdfh

(completely unrelated the show that distracted me from watching gaim was tokusatsu gagaga which was the show that got me interested in tokusatsu when i was like fifteen? ish? i decided to rewatch it since gaim reminded me and yall its so good. its so good. i need like a dvd of this or some shit.)

[writingpaperghost]

Without You (Chapter 20)

Chapter 20: Experiment! Freezing the Sea!

Karizaki has a new Vistamp for Makoto.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43371954/chapters/126386674

“Good news, I-ga-ra-shi!” Karizaki sing-songed, spinning around to point at Makoto, in case there was any question as to who he was talking to, despite Makoto being the only other person present. He didn’t like being alone with Karizaki, but there was no helping it, as Karizaki had insisted on seeing him.

“Oh, really?” Makoto did not even bother to feign interest.

Karizaki pouted, “At least pretend to be curious. You should be curious.”

“Bite me,” Makoto responded, “Now what’s this all about?”

Still pouting, Karizaki picked up a green and blue Vistamp from his desk, “I’ve been working on something new for you.”

Another Vistamp, it seemed. Some other kind of weapon, then? “I hope it’s better designed than the weapon the Marlin Vistamp gives me, that thing is a disaster.”

“Hey!” He sounded rather offended by that. “It looks cool. Besides, this is different from the Marlin Vistamp.”

Makoto tilted his head, that comment had piqued his curiosity. “Different? How so?”

Karizaki grinned, clearly pleased at his new interest, “You see, the Marlin Vistamp simply gave you a weapon. This Vistamp – the Anomalocaris Vistamp, it will give you whole new armor.” He tossed the Vistamp to his other hand, typing something on his computer, than gestured to the large screen beside him. “You’ll be even stronger with this.” Schematics of this new armor and the Anomalocaris Vistamp appeared on the screen.

There was some basis, in the armor, on the armor that Olteca already had while using the Squid Vistamp, but it had been adjusted and modified. There were a lot of notes littering the schematics, of adjustments, changes, and additions. Most notably, the intention, at least, seemed to be for the Anomalocaris Vistamp to be able to have the power to freeze things.

“Ice?” Makoto asked.

“I mean, close enough to water, right, and you are a squid.” Karizaki answered, still grinning, “So, pretty cool, right?”

Frowning, Makoto wasn’t quite sure what to think. A stronger Vistamp would be welcomed, of course, as all the help was appreciated in a fight. But Makoto wasn’t really sure he wanted to say that to Karizaki, or that he was necessarily the one who should be given such a Vistamp. Tamaki was far better suited.

Finally, Makoto said, “You should give it to Tamaki.”

Karizaki rolled his eyes, “It’s made for you, not Tamaki.”

“He’s a better fighter and far more skilled in any of the departments that are involved in being a Kamen Rider. He’d make far better use of a stronger Vistamp than I would.”

“I didn’t make it for him, though. It’s for you, no one else.”

“Why?” Why was Karizaki so insistent he be the one to use it?

He sighed, “Because,” he set the Vistamp down, “I’m certain that you make a better Rider than you give yourself credit for.”

Makoto scowled, “I killed a man.”

“No one’s making you fight,” Karizaki reminded.

“Except,” Makoto countered, “Fenix. I had little choice in that contract and we both know it.”

Considering that for a moment, Karizaki nodded, “That may be the case but… I think you’ve got the makings of a Kamen Rider, somewhere in that deep sea trench of a heart you’ve got.”

Rolling his eyes, Makoto said, “I don’t have a heart.”

“Metaphor, Igarashi.”

“Whatever you say, Karizaki.”

Again, Karizaki sighed, picking up the Vistamp once more, “Just take it, okay?”

Begrudgingly, Makoto takes the offered Vistamp from Karizaki’s hand. “Fine.”

The Anomalocaris Vistamp felt oddly heavy in Makoto’s hand, despite in theory weighing no more than the Squid or Marlin Vistamps. Yet there was something about it that was different, or at least nagged at Makoto like it was. It felt… cold, perhaps that was it, even though Karizaki had been holding it before. Like it radiated a coldness, one that reminded Makoto of far too many miserable days in the past. Makoto switched to holding it in his other hand, before soon quickly hiding it away in his jacket pocket altogether. Despite that, he felt like he could feel the cold leaking through both his jacket and his button up.

“Now, you can go back to your usual things,” Karizaki said, making shooing motions with his hands, “Just be sure to give the Anomalocaris Vistamp a try next chance you get.”

Shaking his head, Makoto sighed, “Yeah, sure.”

He couldn’t wait to just get back to Happy Spa, and far away from the madness that was Karizaki. He still couldn’t believe that Karizaki decided that he was the one who would make the best use of a stronger Vistamp. Or that he might be able to be a good Rider. Karizaki needed to get with reality and see what was right in front of him – that, at best, Makoto was doing a mediocre job, a job he hated, and was probably more likely to end up dead, than much else.

“At least dead, we don’t have to worry about the world that’s abandoned us.” It comes to him like a whisper, a terrible thought that Makoto has to quickly ignore. They seemed to be happening more often, recently, though Makoto couldn’t place why.

Then again, his life had been a lot more hellish than usual, recently.

---

“You know,” Hikaru began, watching as Sakura adjusted how the strange half shoulder cape that she’d decided was apart of his Papillion outfit sat, “You’re surprisingly good at figuring out how to make clothes have wing holes.”

He catches a small smile on Sakura’s face, as she paused her adjustments. She’d been making minor adjustments since she’d decided she’d liked this design on him best, but he hoped they were getting close to being done, as he was getting a bit tired of playing mannequin. “Thank you, I began giving it thought as soon as I’d saw you’d gained wings.” She walked around behind him, her hand running across his back, just under where his wings sprouted. “I strive to make sure that even those of us with more obvious physical traits can still wear clothes without too much trouble.”

Hana giggled, watching the two from her seat on Sakura’s couch. Blue yarn was at her side, knitting needles in her hands as she knitted what appeared to be a sweater. “Sakura’s good at that, she’s had practice with Ikki’s tail.”

Hikaru had only met Sakura’s brothers in passing, Ikki a few times, Daiji only once or twice. Frankly, Hikaru was afraid of Daiji and thus thankful to have met him so rarely. Ikki had seemed nice, but Hikaru had little interest in anyone else in the Deadmans except for Hana, and by extension, Sakura.

“I’d believe that,” Hikaru said, and Sakura emerged from behind him.

With a satisfied smile, Sakura declared, “You’re looking good, if I do say so myself.”

That brought a smile to Hikaru’s face and he laughed a little. “It is your work.”

“Well she’s right, you look great,” Hana added, “And sure, it’s plenty Sakura’s work, but… I mean, you still look good.”

“I promise you,” Hikaru said, wryly, “You can’t ruin my dignity much more than sprouting pretty butterfly wings already has.”

Sakura let out a quick laugh, “Ha! Oh, I wouldn’t bet on it. I could always put you in a pretty dress to match your pretty butterfly wings.”

“I said much more,” he quickly pulled away from Sakura, “You can still find ways and that wasn’t a dare.”

Hana laughed even more, smiling as she managed to say, “Leave the dresses to me.”

Moving from Hikaru to Hana, Sakura leaned down and gave Hana a quick kiss, “Of course, my queen. You do look wonderful in dresses.”

Watching the two made Hikaru’s heart twist, though he’d never say it. They looked so happy together, but it still hurt. As much as he tried to move past those feelings he held for Hana, the fact that they’d yet to go away and he’d only wound up with feelings for Sakura too made it a lot harder. But what could he do? Hana and Sakura had each other, and he’d even gone so far to tell Hana of his feelings, but it was obvious that she didn’t feel the same.

He didn’t resent the fact, he’d never resent either of them choosing someone they actually loved over him, yet in the absence of Hana’s love, in that manner, that meant all he had left was her friendship. He’d do anything for her, even if he didn’t fully believe in it. Like this. He had no desire to see Giff awoken, he didn’t think Hana did, either, but here he was, helping the Deadmans. All for Hana.

If his parents knew he was doing this, they’d never want him back – not that he wanted to go back. His parents and Weekend were a hell he was happy to escape. But still… if something went wrong here, he’d have nowhere else to go. Maybe the Igarashi family would take him, but he also wasn’t their child. They might take Hana, but it was less likely they’d take him. That was a worst case scenario but… he couldn’t help but worry.

What would happen if Giff really did wake up? Was he really helping the Deadmans get closer to reaching their goal?

Yet it was for Hana, so all those worries seemed almost irrelevant.

Sakura clapped her hands, snapping Hikaru out of his thoughts. “Alright, we’re all done here Hikaru, but if you’d like, you can stick around and come sit with us for a bit.” She gestured to the spot on the couch beside Hana, sitting down on Hana’s other side. Hana shot him a smile.

Nodding, Hikaru sat beside Hana, shifting to try to find a comfortable position with his wings. Since he’d grown them, it had been hard to find ways to sit in seats with backs without bothering his wings. They were sensitive and not compact in the slightest. Still, he was with Hana and Sakura, and he enjoyed that.

---

Makoto had run out of other things to do, so he was cleaning every inch of Happy Spa’s lobby. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do, and it was due for a good cleaning – after all it had been several weeks since he’d last ran out of other things to do and cleaned it. Carefully, he finished dusting a table and set the framed picture that had been on it back down.

He paused, staring at the picture, him, Tamaki, Hana, and their parents, standing in front of Happy Spa. He remembered the day the picture had been taken, in celebration of the first anniversary of the Igarashi family having adopted them. Makoto hadn’t been much for the festivities, or the picture, but he’d had little choice in the matter. The smile he wore had been forced, and though he prided himself on his fake smiles now, at the time they were still not that good.

Hana and Tamaki, though, looked genuinely happy. Of course they would, their lives had only improved once they’d become an Igarashi, and while the same could be said about Makoto, the other two were far better at smiling than he was. Or feeling well and truly joyful. In a way, Makoto almost wished he could be as happy as Tamaki and Hana were, though he knew he never would be. The chance for that had long been destroyed and Makoto doubted the pieces would ever be glued back together, even if Genta and Yukimi tried so hard.

For the most part, Makoto was content with that, he didn’t have much choice but to be. Shaking his head, he turned to continue his cleaning, before pausing, the Anomalocaris Vistamp like a chunk of ice in his pocket, cold permeating past the inside of his jacket, his button up, and then onto his skin. He hurried over the desk, fumbling to pull the Vistamp out and set it there. The Vistamp looked the same as it had when Karizaki had handed it to him, not a sign of being as cold as it had seemed to be. Still, he didn’t trust it not to do that again, for whatever reason, so he left it there, for now. He had cleaning to do and didn’t need it to get in the way, he could always grab it if he needed to go off and be Olteca.

He still didn’t know what Karizaki saw in him, but it was better just to go along with it than try to argue. Especially when Karizaki knew Makoto’s biggest secret. Keeping him appeased would be important, Makoto wouldn’t lose what little good he’d managed to claw his way into.

Soon enough, his cleaning is interrupted by his phone, Tamaki was calling and Makoto had learned at this point what that usually meant. Already, he was heading towards the desk, reaching out for the Vistamp. “Maki?”

“Evil’s back, with Jeanne this time, like he said he would be.” Tamaki was quick to respond.

“Great,” Makoto sighed, pocketing the Anomalocaris Vistamp. It still felt cold, though less then it had not long before. He’d be able to deal with it. “I’ll meet you there, then. Mr. Kadota able to make it this time?”

“Yeah, we’ll stand a bit better chance this time.” Makoto wasn’t so sure about Tamaki’s confidence on the matter, but it didn’t matter.

Makoto had a new Vistamp, and while he doubted it’d do much good, it was worth a shot. They didn’t have great odds against just Evil, with Jeanne’s aid it would be worse. While he doubted the Anomalocaris Vistamp would be able to do enough to chance that, it was still better than nothing. “Let’s just do our best.”

When Makoto arrives, Tamaki and Mr. Kadota are already fighting Evil and Jeanne – Evil having transformed with the TwosiDriver, Jeanne as the Cobra Deadman.

Calling out from his fight against Mr. Kadota, Evil said, “Little late, aren’t we, Olteca?”

Jeanne laughed, knocking Tamaki away, “He had to run here, can’t you see he’s out of breath? Such a pity he’s late, though.”

From one pocket, Makoto pulled out his Driver, placing it on his waist. Then, with a deep breath, he reached into his other pocket, pulling out the Anomalocaris Vistamp. He wasn’t convinced of anything Karizaki had said, but it was now or never, and Makoto couldn’t help but be curious, anyway. He activated the Vistamp, its voice ringing out across the fight.

Both Evil and Jeanne seemed surprised about it – perhaps Karizaki had somehow managed to keep the Vistamp a secret from the mole, then. Well, that would make this an even better surprise.

Placing the Vistamp in the belt, Makoto said, “This fight with be mine,” then he pushed the Vistamp to the side, activating the transformation.

An icy fog swirled around him, emerging from his feet. From that fog burst forth a squid and a many legged creature, like a shrimp, swirled together, following a path around him before coming up behind and over him, encapsulating him. Then the armor formed, at first it felt cold and heavy, but it quickly settled.

It looked like the armor in Karizaki’s schematics had, similar to what he usually had as Olteca, but now, a blue color leaked in, particularly on the parts of the armor that had changed. In his hand, he held a simple weapon, a colorful but far more practical green and blue harpoon, though the tips resembled icicles.

“He’s… different,” Tamaki noted, shocked.

The biggest difference that Makoto noticed was how his veins rushed with freezing blood, making his entire body feel like ice. Instead of making him shiver, though, it made him feel strong, stronger than even the Squid Vistamp had made him feel the first time he’d used it. An icy, nagging, fog nipped at the back of his mind, but he pushed it away.

Makoto threw the harpoon at Evil, then rushed towards Jeanne, ice hovering on the palms of his hands. While Evil managed to knock the harpoon aside with his TwosiDriver, Makoto kicked at Jeanne, who easily grabbed his foot, tossing it up and aside. Having anticipated this, Makoto planted his hands on the ground, springing himself away, ice blossoming from where his hands had been, rising up and around the snake like legs of Jeanne, freezing her in place, ice ending just around her waist.

With a shriek, Jeanne cried, “Evil! Get me out of this!”

As Jeanne was currently incapacitated, Makoto made his next target Evil, holding his hand out as he ran, and his harpoon returned to him. Evil was expecting him of course, already getting idea of what he could do from watching him freeze Jeanne. Makoto wouldn’t be so easily anticipated, though, taking the harpoon in both hands and jabbing at Evil.

Again, Evil caught the attack with the blade of his TwosiDriver, attempting to push the harpoon to the side. Ice spread along it, forcing Evil to jump back to avoid it spreading to the TwosiDriver, the harpoon stabbing into the concrete and the ice spread out in a flower, the edge of which ended just at Evil’s feet.

Jeanne continued to shriek. Evil shouted back, “I’m a bit busy here!”

“You know I hate the cold!” Jeanne shouted, sounding incredibly annoyed.

Paying her no mind, Makoto dropped his harpoon, imbedded in the concrete to the point it stayed upright, and ran towards Evil once more, punching. Easily, Evil blocked the attack, but was forced to pull away again by the ice that threatened to spread from Makoto’s fist. At this point, both of his hands were covered in ice that would spread to whatever he touched.

It was only a matter of time, with each punch and kick that Evil tried to block, the ice only spread further onto him, and Makoto wasn’t letting up. No, he was more focused than ever, the icy fog in his mind encroaching more and more.

“Show them our power,” A voice cackled, “Freeze them, beat them, show them that we’re to be feared.”

Quickly, Makoto reached for the Driver and activated his finisher. He jumped back, feet landing against his still upright harpoon, before he sprung off it, flipping so that his foot faced Evil and landed into him in a kick. Ice shattered around them, and Evil tumbled to the ground, TwosiDriver dropped, Vistamp clattering with it, transformation gone.

There’s another sound of shattering ice and soon the Cobra Deadman was gone, leaving only Jeanne, who rushed over to Evil and pulled him up. He grabbed the TwosiDriver and the Bat Vistamp.

“We’re leaving,” Jeanne hissed, anger palatable. Evil didn’t argue, seeming shocked to have lost to Makoto. With that the two were gone.

Makoto reached for the Vistamp, removing it from his Driver, and the armor the Anomalocaris Vistamp gave him was gone.

“Makoto!” Tamaki cried, his transformation disappearing, “That was- that was amazing! You beat Evil!”

“Yeah…” Makoto swayed, his head suddenly pounding.

“…Makoto?” Mr. Kadota called, concerned.

Makoto collapsed.

---

Sakura marched into her room, looking pissed, “Hana, your brother is terrible.”

“Tamaki?” Hana asked.

“Makoto.” Sakura responded, “He got a new Vistamp and it gives him ice powers.”

Hikaru blinked, “Oh, the cold.”

“I hate it!” Sakura pulled her boots off, then marched to bed, “Come cuddle with me, both of you.”

Blinking again, Hikaru asked, “Both of us?” Hana was already getting in bed beside Sakura, allowing her to wrap her arms around her.

As if it were obvious, Sakura answered, “Yes. Get over here, you take behind me. Between the two of you, you’ll warm me up in no time.”

Apparently, Hikaru was a heater now.

Still, he slipped into her bed behind her, awkward, unsure of what to do. Hana was cuddled against Sakura, held close to Sakura’s chest. Due to his wings, Hikaru couldn’t even turn his back to Sakura, or else trying to help her warm up would be a moot point, as she’d get little heat from his wings. He brought himself a little closer, so that his chest was closer to her back, though not touching.

That should be good enough, he thinks, and hopefully Sakura would warm up soon – he wasn’t sure how long he could take being in bed and this close to both Hana and Sakura. With all her blankets on her bed, really, it should only be a matter of time, especially with how closely she held Hana. Obviously, Hana didn’t mind, she appeared perfectly content.

Sakura shivered, then she and Hana collectively moved back, her back now up against Hikaru’s chest. He’s grateful that neither can see the blush that quickly came to his face. In a matter-of-fact voice, Sakura said, “The best way to get warm is for you to be as close to me as possible.”

Grimacing, but hiding it in his voice, Hikaru responded, “Of course.”

---

“Then, when he removed the Vistamp, Makoto collapsed.” Tamaki recounted, more for Captain Akaishi than for George, as he knew George had probably watched the whole thing from the safety of his lab. Tamaki and Captain Kadota had brought Makoto back to Fenix, so a doctor could see him, and had then come to the lab, the new Anomalocaris Vistamp in hand. Currently, George was examining it.

Captain Akaishi frowned, “That’s… worrisome.”

“It seems,” George announced, “That, somehow, the Vistamp exceeded the output it was intended to have. It must have resonated with him, in some manner. That’s the only way to explain the readings I got from that fight.”

“Resonated?” Captain Kadota asked, “And that caused him to collapse after?”

George began to type on his keyboard, “The output exceeded what his Driver was able to safely handle, and while the Driver isn’t supposed to continue to accept power after that point, the Vistamp wouldn’t be ejected or stopped like it was supposed to be.” He gestured vaguely, “Thus, it was a greater strain on Makoto then it should have been. The results could likely have been a lot worse if the fight hadn’t ended when it did.”

“We don’t know just what it did to him, yet,” Captain Kadota pointed out, “It only seems to be exhaustion, but we can’t rule out that something else occurred.”

Captain Akaishi drummed his fingers on his arm, “I’m sure Karizaki will ensure that we don’t have a repeat of this event.”

“I’m working on it,” George said, frowning, “Now will you hurry up and leave me alone so I can work?”

“That,” Captain Kadota sighed, “Is our cue to leave.”

The three exit, Captain Kadota and Captain Akaishi side by side, while Tamaki followed behind them. As they walked, Captain Akaishi appeared to be limping somewhat – Tamaki almost hadn’t noticed, but had heard that his footsteps were too irregular.

It seems it didn’t escape Captain Kadota’s notice, either, as he glanced over and asked, “Daiji, are you hurt?”

With a small, unamused sounding laugh, and a shake of his head, Captain Akaishi responded, “No, or well… I just overdid it a bit training today, I think.”

“It’s not good for you to injured yourself.”

“What about you, then?” Captain Akaishi asked, “You look pretty tired, Hiromi.”

Captain Kadota shook his head, “I just didn’t sleep well last night, I’ll be fine with some rest.”

Frowning, Captain Akaishi didn’t look all that convinced, “You don’t need to go getting hurt, either. We need all the Riders we can get, after all.”

“I’ll be fine, I just need rest.”

“If you say so.”

---

Even once Makoto woke up and he was let go from Fenix’s doctors, even after Tamaki had walked him home and he’d gone to hide away in his room, Makoto felt tired. His thoughts were slow and hazy, like he’d barely slept even though that wasn’t the case. He’d collapsed into his bed, exhausted, prepared to fall asleep fully clothed as he lacked the energy to get back up.

He drifts into a fitful sleep, awakening every so often when he though he heard a sound, though listening further proved no more sounds. His imagination, then, playing tricks on him while he was still exhausted. Even with his blankets, still wearing his jacket from earlier, he felt cold, like he was surrounded by ice. When he awoke from one sleep, feeling colder than he had before, he tiredly brought the back of his hand to his forehead.

Hot, so he had a fever. Maybe it was a mistake for the doctors to let him leave so quickly. At least, the fever explained why he was so damn cold. With a quiet groan, he pulled the arm back down, then tumbled out of bed, sitting on the floor for more than a few minutes. Somehow, he felt worse than he had before he’d gone to bed. He was shivering, the same cold he’d felt under the blankets, no colder despite being outside of them.

Carefully and weary, he managed to stand, though swaying and unstable. He braced a hand against the wall behind his bed, leaning over the table beside it. It had been a long time since he’d felt quite this sick – not since before he ran away. He’d spent several days confined to his bed with a fever, too weak to get up. His mother had been so worried, but his father refused to let her take him to a doctor. Eventually, he recovered, the contents of those days nothing but a blur to him.

Now, he was sick again, and he stumbled across his room. He wasn’t quite sure what his destination was, but he knew it wasn’t to be found in his room. Both his room and the rest of their home was dark, it must be late into the night, as it sounds like no one is still awake. Trying his best not to make too much noise, so he didn’t bother anyone, he slowly made his way to the bathroom.

Once there, he turned the faucet on without even thinking, and reached in, splashing water onto his face. He suddenly felt a bit better, like the water was able to alleviate some of his pains. Still, he felt cold and tired, though, and soon the water was shut off, his hands gripping the sink for balance. He felt if he let go, his legs may give out on him entirely.

Staring in the mirror, he can only think that he looks terrible. Pale and disheveled, bags already forming under his eyes. His face was flushed, only making how pale he seemed more obvious. There were other times where Makoto had felt that he couldn’t recognize himself in the mirror, once, after his father beat him, another after he’d come to Happy Spa. He could add right now to the list, if he didn’t feel quite so terrible.

The doctors had said he was fine, but it was obvious he was sick. Something was wrong, rarely did he get sick, and it had been years since it was so bad. How could they not have realized earlier? Then again, how hadn’t Makoto noticed the signs?

A terrible haze began to cloud his mind, not unlike the one that encroached on him when he’d been using the Anomalocaris Vistamp. Something had gone wrong, then, that had to be the case. Why else would he suddenly feel so terrible? Why else would Karizaki be trying to fix it?

“Did Karizaki do this on purpose? Were his words today only lies, lies he used to convince us to use that Vistamp?” A voice whispered in his mind, sounding sweet and warm.

Or was this unexpected, something he hadn’t meant to happen?

“He’s never really been kind to you. Or even nice. I bet he hates you. Us.”

But given what Karizaki knew about Makoto, and the clearly plotting and scheming mind he didn’t even try to hide, Makoto couldn’t trust anything Karizaki had said. Whatever he claimed to see in Makoto was likely just a lie, and this was the consequences of believing it.

“He hates me, obviously.”

Leaning back from the sink, his grip loosening, Makoto felt that haze grow. He scowled at the mirror. Just before he fell unconscious, Makoto saw something that made him suddenly grow even colder.

In the mirror, his reflection smiled back.

[emotionallychargedtowel]

I’m so glad you enjoyed it, @waitmyturtles. I wanted to reply in a bit more detail than a comment would allow so I’m re-reposting.

1) I only started learning about Ishinomori’s life recently and he’s fascinating. He also created the Super Sentai tokusatsu franchise (a.k.a. Power Rangers) and was mentored by Tezuka Osamu when he started out as a manga artist. That reminds me, my husband has a compilation of Kamen Rider manga I keep meaning to check out. 2) I totally agree about BL seeming like a particularly useful kind of learning experience for younger actors, and also about the leads of Old Fashion Cupcake seeming like they started out at a level of skill and experience you don’t always see in the genre. I haven’t seen any of Kimura’s other work yet, but I hope to correct that before long. And a big yes to Takeda doing a much more subtle version of the sass level he brought to his Kamen Rider roles in Cupcake! I think I know the moment you’re talking about in your example. Something like…this?

I love this screenshot. Nozue’s “playing pretend as a girl” face is great but Togawa’s smirky face is even better.

Takeda definitely uses his “kawaii voice” on Build as well. Sawatari’s voice actually changes pitch a lot, depending on whether he’s acting tough, squeeing over Mii-tan, complaining, or something else entirely.

3) This definitely seems to be true from what I can see--tokusatsu is definitely an early main character role for a lot of the actors involved. It makes me curious about the overall media landscape in Japan and how these two types of roles compare to more or less desirable ones. Like, if BL and tokusatsu are steps on a ladder, exactly what is their position on that ladder and what’s above and below? Sometimes I look at post-toku and/or post-BL filmographies with that in mind but I haven’t noticed any patterns so far.

4) Yeah, the braids did not date well! If you do give Build a try, now that I’ve seen a bit more of the series, the main things to be aware of if you might watch with kids are mild cursing, ableist insults, and (non-graphic) character deaths. My six-year-olds are pretty sensitive and usually do fine with these shows (although my daughter will run out of the room during sad parts). It’s possible you could get around the cursing etc. if you found the right set of fansubs, too.

If you do try out any tokusatsu stuff as a result of this conversation, I hope it goes well!

Takeda Kouhei on Kamen Rider, a Primer

I’m not the only person on tumblr who’s a fan of both tokusatsu and BL shows, but there aren’t a ton of us. Which isn’t too surprising. They don’t have a lot in common aside from being genres that originated in and are still produced (in the case of tokusatsu, almost exclusively) in Japan. But, for reasons that are hard to pinpoint for those of us in the U.S., there’s quite a bit of actor overlap between these genres. From what I’ve seen the biggest contributor to the BL casting pool is Kamen Rider.My impetus for writing this post was a post by @waitmyturtles​ that mentioned being interested in seeing other work by Takeda Kouhei after seeing him in Old Fashion Cupcake. And really, who wouldn’t be? His performance was really lovely. Subtle, moving, funny, endearing, everything you would want in that role.

So I thought I’d post about Takeda’s Kamen Rider work in case other fans are curious. I don’t know how likely BL folks are to get into Kamen Rider but at the very least, I thought Takeda appreciators might enjoy a glimpse of him doing something really different from Cupcake.

Takeda has been in two Kamen Rider series, mostly playing two characters. The first, Kamen Rider Kiva, I’ve seen in its entirety and the other, Kamen Rider Build, I’m currently watching with my family.

Kiva is pretty unique series within the Kamen Rider franchise. The aesthetic is bonkers. The opening credits give you a decent idea of what that’s like–basically, we’re talking about violins, rose petals, and chains everywhere with a nu-metal soundtrack. It came out in 2008 and definitely feels of that time. Opening credits for these shows are usually pretty easy to find but for some reason this one is only on Tiktok. You might have to squint to make it out but it’s still worth a look.

The basic plot of the series is that there are creatures called Fangires that are kinda-sorta similar to vampires except that they suck out your life force instead of your blood, and there are humans who hunt them and protect humanity. The Fangires can look like humans and then transform into their Fangire forms, and the Fangire hunters have the technology to turn into armored superhero-type people as well. Except there’s also this kid who is half Fangire, half human, the protagonist, Kurenai Wataru. He also transforms, in a way that is like a combination of a Fangire transforming and a human using the hunter technology. The show follows his story in 2008 and at the same time, the story of his dad’s experiences 22 years earlier in 1986. His dad, Kurenai Otoya, is Takeda’s character and at a lot of points in the series is almost a co-protagonist.

They did a pretty good job casting a realistic father-and-son pairing, I’d say.

I’m not usually a big fan of this particular type of shag hairdo that was big in Japan in the 2000s but I’d say they’re both pulling it off quite well here. 

According to an interview I read, Takeda was pretty inexperienced when he played Otoya and as a result he started out overacting a bit, but the showrunners really liked how it worked–basically, Otoya is an over-the-top dude anyway. Otoya is an interesting character. He’s this overconfident, sometimes irritating wannabe womanizer who wears some seriously loud blazers (it’s the 80s, after all), but he’s also a highly skilled violinist and violin-maker who also ends up making some huge sacrifices for the people he loves. In a lot of ways he’s the polar opposite of Takeda’s character Nozue in Old Fashion Cupcake.

(In case you’re wondering about the gif above, father and son are in the same timeline briefly because of some magical shenanigans here.)

Toward the end of Kiva, Takeda also (briefly) plays Wataru’s son/Otoya’s grandson, Kurenai Masao, who has traveled back in time to help his dad. Apparently in the future we’ll all be wearing a whole lot of bobby pins.

I didn’t realize until after I had started watching Old Fashion Cupcake that Takeda was also in Kamen Rider Build. I’m about a fifth of the way into that series but Takeda’s character has only been around for a short time. I’m really enjoying him, though, and I think the difference Takeda’s skill level between the two shows is really palpable.

The basic premise of Build is that after an expedition to Mars, a mysterious cube (the “Pandora Box”) is brought back to Earth, a weird light comes out of the cube that changes people, and a wall springs out of the ground that divides Japan into three subregions that end up at war. The mechanism for the characters to transform into Kamen Rider forms involves human beings that are subjected to experiments using stuff from Mars that alters them and allows them to use these objects to transform. Sawatari Kazumi, Takeda’s character, owns a large farm before the Mars cube disaster, but environmental effects of the disaster make his land tainted and infertile. He spends all of his remaining money trying to support the workers from his farm that are now out of work, then basically goes into the villain business to try to pay the bills. It’s pretty clear he’s not going to be a villain forever. I’m on episode 20 (of 49–these shows are long) and it seems like he could join the good guys any time now. (Recognize the other two dudes below? I’ll talk more about that in a bit.)

Sawatari is super different from both Otoya and Nozue, so viewing the three together really can’t help but make you appreciate Takeda’s versatility. Sawatari puts up a very tough front most of the time, except when it comes to Misora, who is part of the main character’s core group but also has another identity as an online “idol” (kind of like an influencer, I guess) called Mii-tan. Sawatari is a Mii-tan fan with a huge crush on her. He seems oddly naive for someone who is basically a mercenary, and she brings that side of him out in a big (and extremely goofy) way.

Sawatari is also the butchest character I’ve seen Takeda play, which is fun in some ways but not in others. On the latter end, his wardrobe on Build is his most boring I’ve seen as he wears slight variations on the same parka-and-mottled-pants combo nonstop. But on the plus side, he gets to do a lot of fighting, trash talking, and sneering and since it’s Takeda it’s all pretty cute. 

My favorite thing about Sawatari so far is his “henshin” sequence so I’ll talk about that for a moment. Transforming characters are a big theme in tokusatsu, and often when we talk about that genre folks are referring more to the suit transformation type shows as opposed to straight kaiju movies like Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, etc. that are also considered tokusatsu. Having an actor disappear and then someone in a masked suit appear in their place requires some kind of neat transition in order to make it work, and these transition sequences usually have a lot of visual interest and meaning built into them.

Characters usually have something they say when they transform, like a word or catchphrase. In Ultraman shows, they usually yell out their Ultraman name. In the Kamen Rider franchise, the tradition (usually upheld) is for characters to simply say “henshin,” meaning “transform.” They usually have some kind of transformation item (in Kamen Rider it’s usually in the form of a belt) and they have a set of actions or gestures they do just before they change. Then different kinds of effects, often CGI, are used to show the normal human being turning into their masked fighter form.Below is a nice example of a henshin move by someone BL fans might recognize, Naito Shuichiro from Kamen Rider Saber and Senpai, This Can’t Be Love.

Apparently, from some things I’ve watched and read, the actors on these shows seem to come up with their own pre-henshin moves. Takeda apparently put quite a bit of thought into his, according to one interview snippet I read. It makes sense because when he transformed in Kiva (only rarely), his henshin routine was kind of dull (sorry!).

I can just imagine him thinking in the intervening years about how he’d do it a second time if he had the chance.

Well, it paid off because Sawatari’s henshin sequence is right up there with the best I’ve seen in my Kamen Rider viewing. The whole thing has an insolent quality and he tops it off with a beckoning finger that looks like he’s flipping his opponent off (which I take it he sort of is, because supposedly beckoning to someone in the American style is considered extremely rude and demeaning in Japan). Basically, it’s like the “fuck you” version of henshin and it makes him look like a badass. It’s also, frankly, pretty hot.

The gif above is just a snippet so I recommend the longer clip below if you want to see the whole thing.

While I’m at it, here’s his first scene, when all the audience knows is that he’s a mysterious surly cutie.

If anyone reading this decides to try watching one of Takeda’s Kamen Rider series without being familiar with the franchise, I have one thing I’d suggest keeping in mind. This is just my take so others may not agree. I’ll refrain from theorizing about why this is in this post but I’ll just say I have some thoughts.  The first 10-15 episodes of most tokusatsu shows tend to get bogged down in worldbuilding, introductions, team formations, and other things that can get tiresome quickly. But this is only a relatively small portion of an entire series since they tend to go for 50ish episodes, like I mentioned above. My advice is that if you check out one of these shows and aren’t feeling it at first, you should give it a chance to get to that 15 episode mark and then see how it seems to you. You can always skip around if you have to in order to get to the point where things get juicier.

One last note–in addition to Takeda being on Kamen Rider Build, it also features two other actors that BL fans might know. The first is Inukai Atsuhiro from The Man Who Defies the World of BL and Kei x Yaku: Dangerous Buddy (which I’m not really familiar with but I think I remember hearing it was sort of an almost-BL where the Bs never end up in L?). He plays the protagonist Kiryu Sento, whose Rider form is Kamen Rider Build. Kiryu definitely has a certain level of sassiness in common with Mob from TMWDtWoBL, but he has a lot more agency in his life and the stakes are higher than whether or not he’s going to fall in L with a B.

Also, Akaso Eiji from Cherry Magic plays Ryuga Banjo, another main character who eventually becomes a Rider. He is extremely different in Build–his character is a boxer and an impulsive meathead type, albeit one with a heart of gold and all that. A far cry from his cutie persona in Cherry Magic. His character also usually has some sort of tiny French braid situation going on with his hair but I’ve spared y’all from having to look at that for the moment.

If you’re curious about any other actors who are in the middle of the BL/tokusatsu Venn diagram, or just found this interesting, let me know. I might do a few more posts of this type.

[animeyanderelover]

Hi!How are you?Sorry if it a bit long, can you take request about sasaki haise? long short story, its about kaneki's darling who(either because of pure love or stockholm syndrom) cant love sasaki haise because she think they are different people(if know kamen rider, its a bit like how airi from kamen rider den-O cant love different time line yuuto)? i dont know if it make sense, you can ignore it if you dont want to! Thank you for every good master piece you make! Dont forget to relax and chill!

I’d like to do that, but with school breathing down my neck, I feel like that’s a little bit hard at the moment. I’ll claw my way through though😤.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, delusions, paranoia, stalking, manipulation, guilt-tripping

You’re not him

🔳Alright, listen here. Haise is far more capable to be accepting and respect decisions from his darling, Kaneki is just more hypocritical, be it out of his pure and utterly horrifying love and the paranoia absolutely equal to it. But this…this is the limit even for Haise. He just is not able to comprehend why his s/o isn’t able to give him even a chance. He’s not Kaneki you say, but Haise wants it to be that way. Obviously he isn’t this other personality of his, but that’s a good thing! Isn’t it? Why would he want to be like someone who kidnapped you, forced you to stay with him, went homicidal whenever you were in potential danger and was wicked enough to think that all of his actions were justified?

🔳Whether it really is pure love or Stockholm syndrome, Haise definitely suspects the latter one. He can’t, he just can’t believe that you would be able to truly love Kaneki, there is little to no understanding the black and white-haired man bears for the lunatic boy resting somewhere deep inside of his mind. As humble of a person as Sasaki is, he can not help but feel like he is the better, the more capable and the healthier option to choose from. He’s not perfect, he’s shy and more timid, but he knows that he will treat his darling kindly and cherish her until death will tear him away from her as it is the only thing that is capable of doing so. So why…why him?

🔳Talking sense into you is a try, though with more and more passing time he seems to become more panicky, more desperate to prove his point, to talk sense into you. Maybe you’re still traumatized, maybe you just need the right treatment to finally think clearly again, he will support you through it! All his attempts are in vain though, you strictly refusing to give up on your life for the half-ghoul, breaking Haise’s heart successfully in the process. Now he wonders what exactly Kaneki has that he hasn’t. For Kaneki the suddenly weakened state of mind of Haise is a feast as he is utterly thrilled to hear such addictive and sweet words of endless love leaving your lips, a sudden craving filling him to the brim, the wish to break free from the restricts of this mind and be held in your warm arms once again. Oh, how hurtful the words of his are every time Sasaki pushes him down, how hard his words struck the current owner of this body into his very core. That s/o will never love him, that she only loves him and needs him as much as he needs her.

🔳Sasaki lingers near the darling though, his heavy and bleeding heart unable to leave her alone even after she hurt him as gravely as she did. It soothes his heart a bit, though the sad looks she has on her face and the name of her beloved Kaneki only serve as another punch in his guts. Like his cure and his pain at the same time are you, his addiction growing slowly more and more. As much as he knows that his emotions are wrong, he never really wanted to believe that his love blossomed due to Kaneki’s own obsessive love. No, he fell for you because he saw how much of a beautiful and kind person you are, nothing has been influenced by Kaneki somehow.

🔳Awkward attempts to slowly build a relationship with you are his next move, you two can start as friends if you still need time to think. Sure, it’ll pain him to be a friend, but if that makes you more comfortable now, so be it. He’ll prove to you that he, even if he’s definitely not Kaneki, he’s still a decent and good man, someone who can gift you love and affection. But if that won’t work and you continue to avoid him or dislike him, Haise will use something that he never really wanted to use against you. Guilt-tripping and emotional manipulation, a last resort if he runs out of options. Can’t you see that all he wants is being seen as his own person and not compared to this Ken Kaneki?! Can’t you see that he’s suffering from your cold indifference, his growing insecurities feasting on his flesh and bones, silent tears spilling out of his eyes due to the agony?

[carmypen]

I’m a little more than halfway through OOO now, and I wanted to do a little write up of some of my thoughts that I haven’t already put in other posts, so here it is!

I am completely and utterly amazed at how good this show actually is. When I rewatch an old show, especially a show that I have a lot of nostalgia for, I usually try to keep my expectations low (and that goes double for a show where I’m not the target audience). However, OOO, somehow manages to almost be better than I remember it. A big part of that is I’m watching it now knowing how the show ends, and I can clearly see how much foreshadowing there was. Stuff like Eiji and the purple Medals or Date knowing who Eiji is are brought up pretty early and continue to get hinted at throughout the show. One really big example is Ankh mentioning in EPISODE 2, that he can taste things now. It seems like a completely innocent, throwaway line, but when you know what’s revealed later about the Greeed it just hits you right in the heart ;__;

I was a bit surprised at how much I had forgotten about the show, but that made rediscovering those things kind of fun. One major thing is Eiji having that I’m-pretending-to-be-stupid-but-I’m-actually-two-steps-ahead-of-everyone aspect of his personality. It’s a trait that makes him into a really entertaining main character.

Speaking of characters, the big stand out for me this time around is Gotou. I didn’t notice him as much the first time because he’s a lot less flamboyant compared to the rest of the cast, but now I really love his character. It’s cool how he starts off bitter and entitled, but then when he has the opportunity to get what he wants (being Birth) he turns it down because he has to stick to his morals. Then he goes through a dark, hopeless period before working his way up to finally becoming Birth. It’s just such a great little character arc, I can’t wait to see it all.

Also (and I probably forgot this because OOO was my first Kamen Rider show and I didn’t know any different) it is very amusing to see some of the characters fight Greeed/Yummies with real life weapons. Like, Gotou whipping out a rocket launcher or Satonaka dual wielding handguns when she shows up to bring the final core medal for TaJaDor’s debut.

We cannot talk about OOO without talking about the one and only notorious birdman himself. I remember when I first watched OOO I felt like Ankh was the kind of character I would have created when I was in middle school. Having rewatched a good chunk of the show now, I can say that I agree with past-me 100 percent. Ankh is, like, the perfect blorbo. If you opened the dictionary and looked up “blorbo” there would be a picture of Ankh, and he would be looking very pretty in it. He’s like if a group of top blorbo scientist gathered together and decided to build the perfect blorbo with the most blorbo-y of blorbo traits. All with the main goal to blorbo-ify the entire world.

With that being said, Ankh is also absolutely terrible. And I love it. I remember him being pretty selfish, and I was preparing for the fact that I probably had a nicer, fanon-ified version of him in my head, but, woooow I was not quite ready. Still, it makes the show just that more enjoyable. He stirs up a lot of drama and it’s great.

For a quick aside, it’s also been neat to go down the Internet rabbit hole and see how many other roles Miura Ryosuke has had in the last few years. It looks like he found his niche in musical theater, and has been involved in a lot of anime-to-stage adaptations (did you know there’s a Fist of the North Star musical? I sure didn’t!). The Black Butler fandom seems to have embraced him, and I hope the JJK fandom enjoys him as their stage Gojo.

Finally, I don’t have too much to say about him, but I absolutely love Date. I couldn’t wait to get to his episodes, and all of his focus episodes (the Kendo girl eps, the LOVE-LOVE-LOVE combo eps) have been my favorites so far. He’s so much fun.

Overall, I’m so glad that I decided to rewatch the show. I was kind of hesitant because it’s hard for me to watch TV shows these days ( and I’m still rewatching Zexal), but it’s been so wonderful to re-experience OOO again, especially after what a gut punch the 10th anniversary movie was. I can’t wait to watch the rest!

[paraemu]

From Toei Hero MAX 57

Parad and Poppy were the main characters in the second part of the trilogy, which was the most flexible in terms of content. Kai and Matsuda's bugster team looks back on their activities in V-Cinema, which were in a sense the same as usual, or even more outrageous than usual!

A different kind of competition realized in a compilation trilogy

本作「仮面ライダーパラドクスwithポッピー」はタイトル通り、お二人が主役。初の大役を務められていかがでした？

Interviewer: As the title suggests, the two of you play the main roles in this film, "Kamen Rider ParaDX with Poppy". How was it for you to play your first major role?

僕の意識としては、ただパラドを演じただけなので、特別感は特にないんですよね。なんというか、これまで通り「エグゼイド」という作品で演じていたら、結果的にパラドが真ん中にいたって感じ。主役の自分がなんとかしなきや、みたいな気持ちもまったくなかったですからね。

Kai: As far as I'm concerned, I just played Parad, so I don't really have any special feeling. I was just playing the role of "Ex-Aid" as I always have, and as a result, Parad was right in the middle. I didn't feel like I had to do anything as the main character at all.

そうだよね。ずっとポッピーとパラドとして生活していたら、たまたまカメラがこっちを向いてて、いつのまにか作品になってた。感覚としてはそういう感じに近いような気がします(笑)。

Matsuda: That's right. We've been living as Poppy and Parad for a long time, and the camera just happened to be looking at me, and before I knew it, I was making art. I think that's how I feel about it (laughs).

申斐さんは、本作���新たに登場するブラックパラドとの一人ニ役にも挑戦されています。

Interviewer: Kai-san is also taking on the challenge of playing two roles with Black Parad, a new character in this work.

クランクインの当日とかはけっこう大変だった記憶がありますね。同じカットに2人とも映るシーンは、まずパラドで撮って、そのままカメラを固定して、ブラーックパラドに着替えてから、今度は反対側に立って…..というのをやらなきゃいけなくて。たぶん、あの日だけで4回ぐらいは入れかわったんじゃないかな。

Kai: I remember it was quite difficult on the day of the crank-in. For the scene where both of us are in the same shot, we had to shoot in Parad, hold the camera in place, change into Black Parad, and then stand on the other side of the screen and shoot... I had to do this. I think we probably switched around four times that day alone.

ブラックパラドは見た目がほとんど変わらないから難しそうだよね。ポッピーと明日那の場合は、見た目も声も喋る言葉尻も全然違うから、同じこと言ってても別人に見えるけど。

Matsuda: Black Parad is going to be difficult because he looks almost the same. In the case of Poppy and Asuna, they look, sound and speak very differently, so they look like different people even though they say the same things.

それはそうかも。演技だけでまったく違うキャラの人物に見せるというのがいかに難しいかは、今回初めて実感したかな。飛彩（瀬戸利樹）が劇場版 (「仮面ライダー×スーパー戦隊超スーパーヒーロー大戦」) で二役をやってた一ときも「大変そうだなぁ」と思って見てはいたけど (笑)。

Kai: That may be true. I think this is the first time I realized how difficult it is to make a character look completely different just by acting. When Seto Toshiki was playing two roles in the movie version ("Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Chou Super Hero Taisen"), I thought "That looks like a lot of work." (laughs).

衣裳チェンジという部分では、"ポッピーの七変化" も本作の見どころのひとつですよね？

Interviewer: In terms of costume changes, the "seven changes of Poppy" is one of the highlights of the film, isn't it?

みなさんにそう言っていただくんで���けど、私自身はこの1年半ずっとコスプレをしてきたようなものなので、コスプレをするってことに対する特別感がわりと携れちゃっていて.....。ちょっとバグってます (笑)。

Matsuda: That's what everyone tells me, but I've been cosplaying for the past year and a half, so my sense of specialness about cosplaying is rather gone... It's a little buggy (laughs).

もはやあれが私服と。

Kai: That's no longer what I call casual wear.

そうだね。ウェディングドレスも……おめでたい私服 (笑)。

Matsuda: That's right. The wedding dress is also... an outfit for special occasions (lol).

ヲタ芸もやってたよね？

Kai: You also did some wotagei, right?

やったねえ。鈴村監督から、着替えるたびに「ひと言なんか言って、なんかやって」って言われて、全部アドリブでやったんですけど、そのひとつがヲタ芸で (笑)。最初は「アイドルっぼいことを」ってオーダーだったんだけど、なんか違うことをしたかったから、監督と相談して「アイドルカルチャーとはこういうものだって勝手に勘違いしてるポッピー」という設定でやったんです。でも、ちょっと激しくやりすぎて、今回の「トリロジー」に携わってないスタッフさんのなかには別人がやってると思った人もいたみたいですけどね。

Matsuda: I did. Director Suzumura asked me to "say something, do something" every time I changed clothes, so I improvised everything, and one of the things I did was wotagei (laughs). At first the order was to do something idol-like, but we wanted to do something different, so we talked with the director and decided to do it as "Poppy, who mistakenly believes that this is what idol culture is all about". But it was a bit too intense, and some of the staff who weren't involved in the "Trilogy" seemed to think that someone else was doing it.

さすがにヲタ芸にまで吹き替えは使わないよね(笑)。アクションじゃないんだから。ってか、途中で「松田るか」も出てきてなかった？観てて「あれっ？ポッピー?」って思ったよ。

Kai: You're right, they don't use dubbing even for wotagei (laughs). It's not an action movie. I mean, didn't "Matsuda Ruka" appear in the middle of the movie? When I was watching it, I was like "Huh? Where's Poppy?"

出てたね。あそこは思わず素が出ちゃって....(笑)。

Matsuda: You were in it. I couldn't help but show my true colors there.... (laughs).

明かされる衝撃の真実そのとき演者たちは?

The Shocking Truth Revealed: What Will Happen to the Actors?

一方、今回のトリロジーではこれまで語られたことのなかった新たな過去も明かされます。

Interviewer: On the other hand, this trilogy will also reveal a new past that has never been told before.

ブラックパラドが何者か？というのもそうだし、ポッピーの一宿主である櫻子さんが顔出しするのも今回が初めてだよね。

Kai: Who is Black Parad? This is also the first time that Sakurako-san, Poppy's host, shows her face.

これがすごくキレイな人でね。なんでこの人はクロノス（＝檀正宗）みたいな人と結婚したんだろう、と改めて疑問に思いましたよ、私は。

Matsuda: She was a very beautiful woman. I wondered again why she married someone like Dan Masamune.

美人で俺もビックリした。こんな人からどうしたら黎斗ができるんだって。

Kai: She was so beautiful that I was surprised too. I wondered how such a person could give birth to Kuroto.

いや、クロノスと結婚したら黎斗は産まれちゃうよ (笑)。まあ、あったんでしょうね。きっとお父さんにもいいところが。

Matsuda: No, if you marry Cronus, Kuroto will be born (laughs). Well, there must've been a reason. I'm sure the father had his good points.

もとをただせば、正宗と櫻子さんが結婚したことが「エグゼイド」のすべての始まりだったということなんだよね。

Kai: To put it simply, Masamune and Sakurako's marriage was the beginning of all of "Ex-Aid."

どこに惚れたのかっていう最大の謎は、トリロジーでも結局謎のままだけど (笑)。

Matsuda: The biggest mystery of what made her fall in love with him remains a mystery even in the trilogy (laughs).

テレビシリーズでもあとから明かされた“新事実、はいくつかありましたが、演じる側としてはやはり戸惑いもありますか？

Interviewer: In the TV series, there were some new facts that were revealed later, but as a performer, did you feel confused?

ありますね。パラドに関して言えば、「最終的に人間の味方につく」という設定は、正直あとから知ったんで、「えっ？どうしよ!」とはなりました。最初のほうの取材とかでは、普通に「悪役のまま終わりたい」って答えてたぐらい、僕自身は悪役をまっとうするつもりでいましたから。

Kai: Yes, I did. To be honest, I didn't know Parad would end up on the side of the humans until later, so I thought "What? What should I do?". In the first interview, I said that I wanted to end up as a villain, and I was planning to play a villain until the end.

私も本編のほうで「私、黎斗の母親だったんだ！」って知ったときは衝撃だったな。あれを最初から知っていれば、たぶん接し方も変わってたはずなので、「教えといてよー」と思ったもん。

Matsuda: I was also shocked when I found out in the show that I was Kuroto's mother! If I had known that from the beginning, I probably would have treated him differently, so I thought, "Why didn't you tell me?"

でも、きっとそれがいいんだよね。知らずにいることでいつのまにか役作りをさせられてる。僕が人間側につくのを知ってたら、グラファイトとの距離感とかも絶対ヘンになってたと思うもん。急にそういう台本を渡されて、自分の感情が追いつかなくなるというのがパラドにとっても逆によかった。リアルに窮地に立たされてる感じがさ。

Kai: But I'm sure it's for the best. By being unaware of it, I'm somehow forced to create the role. If I had known that I was going to be on the human side, the distance between me and Graphite would have been weird for sure. It was good for Parad that he was suddenly given such a script and that his emotions couldn't keep up. He felt like he was in a real predicament.

東映さんの作品はそういうところがあるみたいだもんね (笑)。『シンケンジャー』のときも、松坂桃李さん自身は「実は影武者」という設定をギリギリ���で知らされてなかったんだって。演じるほうとしては最初から言っててほしいけど、そのあたりが難しさであり、面白さでもあるのかなって。

Matsuda: That seems to be the case with Toei's films (laughs). For "Shinkenger," Tori Matsuzaka himself wasn't told that he was actually a shadow warrior until the very last minute. As a performer, I wish I would have been told from the beginning, but I think that's both the difficulty and the fun of it.

そうだね。パラドが永夢に感染したバクスターだというのも最初は僕だけが知ってて、飯島くん本人は実際教えてもらってなかったし……。永夢の瞳が赤くなったときは絶対パラドが近くにいるとか、そういう匂わせはたくさんあったけど。

Kai: That's right. At first, I was the only one who knew that Parad was the Bugster who infected Emu, and Iijima-kun himself wasn't told about it. There were a lot of hints that Parad was definitely nearby when Emu's eyes turned red.

うんうん。だから「エグゼイド」も2ラウンド目が面白いんだよね。いろいろわかったうえで観ると、「そういうことか！」ってさらに楽しめるし。

Matsuda: Yeah, yeah. That's why the second half of "Ex-Aid" is so interesting, isn't it? If you watch it after you understand everything, you can enjoy it even more.

信頼しあえる関係性

A relationship of mutual trust

トリロジー全作を手がける鈴村監督の現場はどうでした？

Interviewer: How was it working with director Suzumura, who is working on the entire trilogy?

かなり自由にやらせてもら雰囲気でやれたかなってえましたね。 監督自身がすごく柔らかくて器の大きい方だから、周りも切羽詰まったりせずに、いい雰囲気でやれたかなって。

Kai: The director himself is very soft and big-hearted, so the people around him didn't feel pressured, and we were able to do it in a good atmosphere.

うん。よくご飯にも誘ってくれたしね。監督がそうやって気さくに接してくれるからこそ、距離感もほどよく縮まって、現場でも「コレ、こうしたいんです」って気負わずに言える空気感ができてた感じ。私のなかではすっかり焼酎ばかり飲んでる人というイメージだったりもしますけど (笑)。

Matsuda: Yeah. He often invited me out to dinner, too. Because the director was so open with me, we were able to close the distance between us, and I felt like I could say, "This is what I want to do," without feeling self-conscious. In my mind, he has the image of someone who drinks only shochu (laughs).

演出プランは当然、監督のなかにもあるはずなのに、芝居をつけてる段階で僕らが別のアイデアを出すと、決まって「じゃあ、そうしようよ」って言ってくれる。そうやって積極的に採用してもらえたら、こっちも一生懸命考えようって気持ちになるし、それはすごくよかったなって思います。自分の発想力みたいなものも否応なしに鍛えられましたしね。

Kai: Naturally, the director has a plan for the direction of the film, but when we came up with a different idea during the play, he would always say, "Well, let's do that". I think it's great that the director is willing to adopt our ideas, because it encourages us to think harder. I think that was really good. I was also able to develop my ability to think out of the box.

しかも、周りにはずっと一緒に走ってこられた同世代の役者陣。もはや鬼に金棒ですね。

Interviewer: In addition, he was surrounded by actors of the same generation who had been running together for a long time. It's like the devil's advocate.

みんな、ホントに仲よかったよね。人数が多いと自然とグルーブに分かれたりもしがちですけど、「エグゼイド」に関してはそういうこともまったくなくて。

Matsuda: We all get along really well. When there are a lot of people in a group, it tends to naturally divide into different groups, but that didn't happen at all with "Ex-Aid".

うん。個人的にも、みんなで笑い合えて、楽しく仕事ができる現場が一番いい。そういう意味でも、オンとオフのメリハリがつけられるメンバーばかりだったのはよかったなって。

Kai: Yeah. Personally, I think it's best to work in a place where everyone can laugh together and have fun. In that sense, I'm glad that all the members were able to have a good balance between on and off work.

お二人の信頼関係は？

Interviewer: How is the relationship of trust between the two of you?

バッチリですよ。私が右なら、彼は左に行くので (笑)。

Matsuda: It's perfect. If I go right, he goes left (laughs).

そうかな？でも、確かに違うことをしたがるかも。同じ方向向いてって言われても、素直にできないし (笑)。というか、そっちも "おしゃべりクソマシンガン" って言われてたじゃん。

Kai: Is that so? But I think we may want to do different things. Even if you ask me to look in the same direction, I can't do it honestly (laughs). I mean, you've been called a "shitty talking machine gun" too.

"クソ" じゃないよ、"サブ" だよ (笑)。なんだろ？私がバーッとひとしきり喋って、横から彼一がポロッと鋭いことを言うみたいな、そういう流れは現場でもありましたね。

Matsuda: It's not "shitty", it's "sub." (laughs) What is it? There were times when I would talk a lot, and then he would say something sharp from the side.

でも、おかしいことは言ってなかったでしょ？ちゃんと事実を言ってただけで。

Kai: But I didn't say anything funny, did I? I was just telling the truth.

大人はみんな知らんぶりして目を課るようなことをあえて言うんですよ、彼は。

Matsuda: He dares to say things that all adults pretend not to know and avert their eyes on.

そういうのすごい嫌いなの。日本人はなんですぐ "付度" するのかなって思っちゃう。あんな言葉、英語にはないからね?

Kai: I really dislike that kind of thing. I wonder why Japanese people are so quick to use "tsukedo". There is no such word in English, right?

はいはい (笑)。

Matsuda: Yes, yes (laughs).

では、お二人の関係性が十分伝わったところで、これから作品を観る読者にメッセージを。

Interviewer: Now that we have a good sense of the relationship between the two of you, do you have a message for the readers who will be watching the film?

夕陽に照らされたパラドクスとポッピーのポスタービジュアルを鵜呑みにすると痛い目を見ますってことは言っておきたいかな。

Matsuda: I guess I'd like to say that if you believe the poster visual of Parad and Poppy in the evening sun, you're in for a world of hurt.

あれはちょっと、謎のタイタニック感があるからね。

Kai: That one has a bit of a mysterious Titanic feel to it.

二人が出るってことしか合ってない (笑)。ただ、「ブレイブ＆スナイプ」も「ゲンムVSレーザー」もわりと重いし、「パラドクスwithポッピー」は箸休め回だと思って身構えずに観てほしいな、とは思うよね。

Matsuda: The only thing that fits is that the two of them are in it (laughs). However, both "Brave and Snipe" and "Genm vs. Lazer" are rather heavy, so I hope people will think of "ParaDX with Poppy" as a chopstick rest and watch it without getting defensive.

そうだね。3部作だと1本目は掴んで3本目は落とさなきゃいけないけど、それがない2本目は何でもできる。そういう自由度の高さはよかったよね。

Kai: Yes, in a trilogy, you have to grab the first one and drop the third one, but in the second one you can do anything. It was nice to have that kind of freedom, wasn't it?

監督のフェティシズムも一番詰まってる作品だしね (笑)。

Matsuda: It's also the film that contains the most of the director's fetishism (laughs).

ちなみに、パラドとポッピーを演じてきて、ー番「心が躍るな」と思った瞬間は？

Interviewer: By the way, what was the most "exciting" moment for you while playing Parad and Poppy?

うーん。たくさんありすぎてひとつには紋れないですね。今回で言えば、ポッピーじゃなく「松田るか」として主題歌を唄わせてもらえたのは「躍った」かな。

Matsuda: Hmmm. There are so many that I can't pick just one. In this case, I was able to sing the theme song not as Poppy, but as Matsuda Ruka, and I think that made me "jump".

僕は初めてナパームを見たときかな。あの大爆発には童心が騒ぎましたね。あと、これは余談ですけど、僕、クランクアップのときに現場に放置されたんです。

Kai: I think it was the first time I saw napalm. That huge explosion made me feel like a child. Also, this is an aside, but I was left unattended at the scene when the filming had wrapped up.

置いてかれてた (笑)。

Matsuda: You were left behind (laughs).

花束をもらって、せっかくだからって自撮りをしていて、「よし帰ろう」と外に出たらロケバスがもう出ていて…..。1年半を演じ終えた役者に対する「心震える」仕打ちとして、このことはぜひとも太字にして語り継がれてほしいと思います (笑)。

Kai: I got a bouquet of flowers and was taking selfies for the occasion, and when I went outside to go home, the location bus had already left... I hope this will be bolded and passed down as a "heart-breaking" treatment to the actors after a year and a half of acting (laughs).From Toei Hero MAX 57

[asknarashikari]

Well, I can kinda see why you don't like the trope with characters with good intentions that neglect/abandon/distance their own kids just to save the world or for good (emphasis on that) reasons but also make terrible or outright stupid decisions in the process. Such examples for you being Masumi Karizaki (I kinda agree it was a stupid move of him for not telling his son that he's still alive) and Shinobu Katsurgi, I think and what other examples are there for you?

I actually talked a bit about why I'm not too fond of Katsuragi Shinobu in this ask here.

My other example is going to be a bit controversial I think. I'm probably gonna get a lot of flack for it, so putting it under a read more for those who just don't wanna deal with drama

I think one of the worse examples I can think of for this category is Narumi Sokichi, aka Kamen Rider Skull. I understand he's a popular character and people will eviscerate me for speaking ill of him, but allow me to explain myself.

As far as we know, the entire time he was active as Kamen Rider Skull, he rarely saw or talked to his daughter Akiko, even before the whole thing with the Spider Dopant making him unable to touch her without making her go boom. By the time the series began, they were so estranged that Akiko had no idea what her father was like, and cared so little for him that when she came into possession of the agency she only came to Fuuto with the intention of selling it off. She didn't know what he did as a detective, and she sure as heck had no idea he was a Kamen Rider.

While the bit about the Spider Dopant does prove that Akiko was the one thing he loved most in the world, that doesn't mean he actually acted like it. Mind you, he didn't even fake his death like Shinobu or Masumi did. Akiko was aware that he was alive the whole time. She even thought he was still alive when the agency became hers. Even then, she just couldn't care less about him or the work he did.

Like... he could've called her regularly, y'know. Or even talked about her to Shoutaro, who apparently had no idea she existed.

Which brings me to Shoutaro. Honestly, Sokichi's kinda problematic as a father figure to him, and it all comes down to that "hard-boiled" persona he put on. Shoutaro looked up to Sokichi and held him up on a pedestal, believing himself to be inferior because he cannot be as stoic and cold and unaffected as Sokichi. And while I can't say that he was a bad boss to Shoutaro... there was very little in the way of positive reinforcement or warmth from what little we see of him in the series, though we do see that he was kind to Shoutaro when he sought Sokichi out as a child.

There's also the unrelated, rather sticky fact that he seemed to be having a romance with that young actress in the flashback scenes of Movie War Core... assuming that he was married to Akiko's mom, that would mean he was an adulterer to boot. It may have been a purely emotional affair, but still.

And in all of this... One decade of being estranged from his child... he hadn't really made any significant headway into the Dopant problem in Fuuto. The W gang managed to take down Museum, and even found the ultimate benefactor- Foundation X- in less than 2 years. Make what you will out of that, I suppose.