tl;dr
Den-O 2: In which Hana's pattern of Momo abuse surfaces

Den-O 2: In which Hana's pattern of Momo abuse surfaces

So quick thoughts, because of the time:

→ First instance of Hana beating up Momo!

→ Again with Ryotaro's ingrained kindness: wanting to give the keyholder back to the bully, because it was the right thing to do.

→ First glimpse of That Guy (spoiler!)

→ Momo saves a little boy, aww. Again, Momo was always decent, under the hooliganism.

Not so quick thoughts:

Well, two things, about Ryotaro. The first has to do with something people have brought up in the comments to the last post, and it's about the type of hero Ryotaro is.

I don't really understand it all, but I understand it's something I have to do.

He's a wimpy little guy with bad luck, he's not really anyone's idea of a ~potential hero~, and yet when it comes down to it, he's going to do what needs to be done, because it's fallen in his lap, and he can't turn his back on it. (Again with Ryuki, it's a lot like the way Shinji decides to become a Rider simply because he wants to protect people... the difference being that Shinji kind of just jumps into it blind, while for Ryotaro it's more thought out). Anyway, in the end, my favorite heroes are the ones that you wouldn't have ever placed a bet on (Kagami), the ones that just keep going, doing what needs doing, without ever acknowledging maybe they're in over their heads, that they're only human (Hikawa, obviously).

The other thing I liked in this episode... well, it's two things. First, in his haste to return the keychain, Ryotaro actually enables the Imagin to grant Tetsuo's wish. It wasn't really dwelt on, but the fact remains that in doing what he considered to be right, Ryotaro messed up. Put it together with Hana's warning later, that they can't change the past, and Ryotaro's insistance to do just one little that will make things better... well, one can certainly see how this might eventually cause problems.

(I actually don't know how much of a problem this does or does not cause, although I have goten to Yuuto warning him about it... so please don't spoil me).

And finally, because it just does not ever get old...

Comments

  1. Katie Mayo
    Momo/Hana was my OTP for a while there :D;; then Kohana messed it up ): I adore that Ryotaro is messing up, isn't a perfect hero, freaks out and has to be warned about things. I adore that he's changed the time stream just that little bit to make someone--someone who beat him and stole his money and was the indirect cause of people dying!--a little bit happier. Momo and Ryotaro simultaneously yelling about the little kid was such a cool touch, Momo is a good dude when he's not running around shouting. I think I'm going to go make a 'best of' compilation of Hana abuse moments at some point :3
    1. Mati
      Yeah, what with how Ryotaro is all awkward in the scene where she explains about time and won't meet her eyes, it's all very shippy... now, I don't know the specifics, but I do know that this is trolling in a similar vein to Tendou and Hiyori being shippy and then OH HEY GUYS GUESS WHO HIYORI IS. I love the exploration of this theme of how sometimes doing what you consider the right thing actually makes things work, because you weren't taking into account the big picture. I know I sound like a broken record, but I loved Shinji's struggle with this concept, how he wanted to stop the Rider Battle because it was the right thing to do, but then realizing pursuing what he believed to be right would necessarily lead to doing wrong by other people.
  2. Katie Mayo
    No, I meant I shipped Momotaros and Hana, though Ryotaro/Hana is adorable too :D;; I almost hate how much Toei loves trolling ): but then it's hilarious, the moment you realize exactly how hard you were trolled :D;; Me too; the way this theme is explored in Den-o is in a really understated way, compared to all of Ryuki, but the greater messages in Den-o are about memory and the essence of what time actually is rather than the moral struggle that it Ryuki. Which is good, since it was good in Ryuki but would be a little less effective here if they pursued things the way they did with Shinji's struggle about stopping the Rider War. Under all of the antics and hijinks and in-jokes Den-o does say some heavy things. (Which a lot of people miss ;_;)
    1. Mati
      ...Reading comprehension EPIC FAIL. Well, anyway, it's still interesting, the question of to what extent is one thing or the other right, you know? Something else entirely: I've seen a certain type of fanboy be very dismissive of Den-O on the grounds that it's just about the humor. Now, the thing is, yeah, there's a spectrum of humor in Kamen Rider, but it's not like even Faiz doesn't have its moments when Kaido is all about being funky... and that's not even getting into the random tangents of crack that Kabuto goes off on. Point is that Den-O has never seemed to me to be ALL about the comedy, you know? ETA: your icon brokeand I haven't changed anything. :O
      1. Katie Mayo
        That's okay :D;; I definitely think it's interesting, it's one of those things that makes me make embarrassing squeaky noises whenever Kobayashi shows up anywhere >_> I'm not gonna deny that there's a huge comedy to the antics of Den-o, because it's about a fail young man being possessed by multiple monsters that have very... particular personalities. I don't think there's any way for that to have gone down and not be funny. But that doesn't make the points Den-o spends a lot of time suggesting any less valid or any less punch you in the gut at times. Den-o, I think, should get a lot of credit because I, at least, found it pretty consistently funny. Maybe not laugh-out-loud hilarious all the time, but I didn't get tired of possession antics or 'won't you let me string you along~?' or 'Ore sanjou!'. Which is a sign of good writing, not bad writing. That certain type of fanboy also tends to be connected to the guys who think that Ryotaro is some wuss who ruined Rider-dom forever. :l I tend to not think very seriously of anyone who dismisses an entire show based on that kind of think, myself. ETA: I'm not sure what happened but it's on now :/
        1. Mati
          Yeah, I didn't mean it's not funny, I meant it's not, you know, relentless slapstick comedy, wich is what The Fanboys over at a certain place we both know seem to criticize it for. Part of why I like Kamen Rider is that it knows how to mix pretty funny shenanigans in among the deeper points and drama... even grimdark!Faiz.
          1. Katie Mayo
            Yeah, that's what I meant too :3 it's not like Kamen Rider hasn't had ridiculous, ridiculous plots and crack-episodes for its entire run anyway, dumb fanboys, so I'm going to sit over here and scowl and ignore your crappy taste >/ Thankfully I avoid there anyway :D it makes things much easier.
            1. Mati
              I'm gonna see if I can figure out how to make it work. :D
      2. Katie Mayo
        Randomly, by the way, does checking the 'email me followup comments' box actually do anything?
        1. Mati
          It should... email you when someone comments. :D It worked back when tested it, isn't it working now? I know what it is! It's because you sign in through Twitter, and it can't get your actual addy from there... hmm... will have to come up with a solution, because I like the Twitter thing. I get a lot of people coming from there even if they just lurk. :D;
          1. Katie Mayo
            Yeah, I'm seeing it now :/ I was going to change my email but they send a confirmation to the nonexistent twitter email ): I keep forgetting to check back :D;; or alternately checking a lot and getting no response.