And so we get to Ryutaros. I’m not really sure how I feel about him. Sometimes he can be fun(ny), and certainly liking puppies and kittens is cute, and his color is purple, but the fact that he’s a willful brat means that ultimately I tend to find him very tiring and frustrating, sometimes outright annoying. :D;
So again, kind of filler episodes which mostly serve to reinforce what we learned about whichever Imagin was just introduced; in this case Kintaros.
I wasn’t really all that interested in the story itself this episode, because the plights of a pre-teen girl idol/model really just don’t interest me very much (it’s a matter of demographics, really). Things pick up in episode 12 when it becomes less about the modeling and more about an estranged father/daughter relationship. The second episode also revisits the problem of creating paradoxes by changing the past, which I find very interesting.
One of my favorite things about the Kamen Rider franchise, beyond the great characters and often campy fun, is the way it tackles in a very tangible way issues that, when you think about it, are very philosophical and/or existential in nature.
It’s really cool that what is first and foremost a Sunday morning kids’ show, whose purpose is largely to sell toys, is so good at tackling questions such as what is the true measure of being human; or to what extent our circumstances or fate determine who we are and what we do. I was going to say it’s a little amazing, but it’s really not, when you consider that at heart, this is exactly what the very first Kamen Rider was about, decades ago (full disclosure: I haven’t really seen any Showa yet, although Black in particular is definitely on my list of stuff to watch). Kamen Rider can be about the suits and the fights and about heroes of justice kicking ass; but if you let it, it will also make you think. It tends to sneak up on you, too, and that’s what happened with these two episodes.
Read more “Den-O 9-10: Kintaros is awesome, revelations about Hana”
As is probably obvious, my response to Den-O eps 7 and 8 can best be summed up thus: LOL, Smart Lady! Or Shimada Nanako, whichever you prefer!
Also! Urataros comments on the unfortunate length of Momotaros’ pole. And then Momotaros takes offense… when he figures out what Ura means, at any rate. 8D/
(For a kid’s show, they sure get away with Urataros implying an awful of lot really horribly badwrong stuff).
Now, if one is identifying common tropes that Kobayashi likes to revisit, wouldn’t it be fair to say that Urataros is probably the closest Den-O has to one Kitaoka Shuichi? :D
Probably, and this would explain why I like Urataros so much. I mean they’re both full of it, they’re both smooth with the ladies (well, Kitaoka supposedly is, we don’t see it work in Ryuki because it’s always directed at Reiko), and they’re so much smoke and mirrors around their motivations that it’s very hard to tell just what there is underneath it all… except for the fact that one suspects they’re really not bad, underneath it all, just selfish, opportunistic and self-serving. But quite charming, really!
Especifically with Urataros, there’s the mystery of why exactly he’s doing what he’s doing, why he’s possessing Ryotaro knowing the limitations of possessing a singularity point (which at this point… haven’t exactly been explained). Read more “Den-O 5-6: Enter Urataros”
Watched Den-O 3 and 4 yesterday, but didn’t get around to blogging about them then, and then today at noon I was distracted and so this post is going to be shorter than it would have been. :/
I wanted to bring up two things. The first is Momo, and it’s possible I may be be thinking too much about a character that is, again, a “hooligan who likes pudding” and wo we’re probably not supposed to look too deeply at. But I can’t help it. :D
Read more “Momo learns an important lesson about being an accessory to robbery”
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.
Read more “Den-O 2: In which Hana’s pattern of Momo abuse surfaces”