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Perhaps For Love, Or Maybe Justice (A Tokusatsu/Magical Girl Quest)

Alright, what weapon should Akemi have?

  • Let her keep the gun!

    Votes: 9 33.3%

  • Give her a sword!

    Votes: 10 37.0%

  • More Magic!

    Votes: 6 22.2%

  • Hand to Hand!

    Votes: 2 7.4%
  • Total voters
    27
  • Poll closed .
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Kermie said:
If you wanna get up to speed with more modern Kamen Rider:
Watch Geats.

If you want to educate yourself on the basic Kamen Rider tropes:
Watch Kuuga, and then Ryuki.

If you want two gay idiots:
Watch Build.

If you want all of the above:
GO WATCH KAMEN RIDER GAVV.
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Admittedly I can get gay idiots in real life. I'm not morosexual but unfortunately the lifelong traumas of growing up non-het in homophobic societies sure make situational morosexuality a survival trait.

Probably gonna start with Kuuga and Ryuki. When I get around to it.
 
I would recommend Double as a starting point, personally. It's got a solid comedic dynamic, the two-parter mystery-centric structure is good for both interesting monsters of the fortnight plots and a solid overarching storyline, the leads are hella gay, and it's got an anime sequel, Fuuto PI.

I would also recommend OOOs and Fourze (mostly in Double's lane, Fourze is probably the most chill KR and while OOOs has problems it makes up for it with a great cast), Gaim (written by Gen Urobuchi, full of fascinating ideas and drama even if I don't think it fully sticks it's own landing) and Ex-Aid (Great cast, an aesthetic that will grow on you, and the MEMEs this bad boy was putting out when it was airing are stellar), but I also co-sign all of Kermie's suggestions.
 
Morrowlark said:
Admittedly I can get gay idiots in real life. I'm not morosexual but unfortunately the lifelong traumas of growing up non-het in homophobic societies sure make situational morosexuality a survival trait.

Probably gonna start with Kuuga and Ryuki. When I get around to it.
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I'd actually reccomend Gavv first— it's still ongoing, so you'll only have to watch a half season of 16-17 episodes to get any references to it (which I'm probably gonna make ngl) instead of having to go through the full thing. Also, it's got some absurdly good writing for the new era of Kamen Rider, so you'll still figure out the tropes really quickly.

Shouma said:
"That's right. I am a monster. But that goes for me AND you!"
-Shouma Inoue/Stomach, Episode 1
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I mean I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop for the angst in Gavv about Shouma's identity because that plot point is ramping up soon and I'm scared

.....Gay idiocy popping up again would be nice.
 
Valen is both angsty, goofy, and in his first fight he punched a guy with a gun. And when I say that he punched a guy with a gun, I mean that Valen bludgeoned a guy who was immune to bullets with the butt of his gun. Said gun is also an electric chair for the sentient collectible transformation gimmick food.

That's the same guy who they're shipping with Shouma, which helps because they're both dumbasses and also badasses. Shouma himself is the half-human son of a multi-world spanning candy/drug/Yakuza empire. Also if Shouma reveals that above fact to Valen there's a good chance that multiple things will explode. Sachika's also there, and she's like if Jun was just perfectly nice but still weirdly involved with KR bullshit. All this is punctuated by the most earnest writing that 1000% commits to the bit and some awesome action scenes that blow whatever Marvel's been doing recently out of the water. Each episode.

Kamen Rider Gavv is batshit insane. Go watch it.
 
You know what fuck it, votes are open for 51 more hours, I've got time to distract the QM

Hey Kermie can you hold forth a bit on your thoughts/opinions on why Kamen Rider as a (sub?)genre seems to be so particularly male? Any and all analysis is of interest to me, from the meta (i.e. "it has been decided on a corporate/genre level that it's For Boys so...") to the thematic. I was intrigued in the opener to this Quest when you stated very firmly that a male character can be a Magical Girl just fine, and of course various trans and genderqueer options were also on deck, but I feel like I'm currently missing something with Rei. It's easy for me to understand the genre/gender fuckery going on with a male magical girl, because despite my backwards relationship with the genre it turns out the likes of Sailor Nothing and Madoka are invested in the overwhelming femininity of the root genre. But, well, as established I don't know Kamen Rider, so I'm not sure what, if anything, is going on with Rei (and her complicated relationship to womanhood considering that she got banned from having an actual childhood and barely functions in normal society) and this particularly male idea of heroism/antiheroism.
 
Morrowlark said:
Hey Kermie can you hold forth a bit on your thoughts/opinions on why Kamen Rider as a (sub?)genre seems to be so particularly male?
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While I don't know all the details (I like the shows, not the actual behind the scenes), I just think that in general, it's one of those "tradition" things. Y'know, Sailor Moon only had girls so that was that going forward, while Kamen Rider was originally seen as just one (later two) grasshopper cyborg dude against the world. A lot of the things after that just sort of… followed in those two's footsteps. Aside from that, both executives and audiences tended to associate certain themes/motifs (and thus genders) with one or the other. Oh, this is terrorism and human freedom, that's Kamen Rider, here's more "down to earth" experiences and the thrill of teenage love, those are magical girls.

However, I will note that there was always some overlap, because at the end of the day, both Kamen Rider and a lot of Magical Girl shows are about two things— hope and the human spirit. You see that influence in things which were originally conceived as genre benders, like the PreCure series— while that series focused on "magical girl topics" like school life, those magical girls THREW HANDS.

Before more recent times when you saw more magical boys, there were also a good few females that were Kamen Riders— though you saw that more near the latter end of the 2000s. Nowadays, there's usually at least one female Kamen Rider in each series. As such, there's not really any weird gender things going on with Rei in regards to femininity/Riderism. Maybe Akemi or Himari tho, but I'm still working the specifics of those arcs out.
 
Kermie said:
In no particular order. Since with one exception, none of these are available legally in the US, Bandai won't smite me for promoting piracy. Not yet at least.

Kamen Rider Geats (really good one, more recent)
Kamen Rider Ryuki (the older KR battle royale)
Kamen Rider Gavv (most recent one, peak fiction)
Kamen Rider Kuuga (fully available legally on YouTube, one of the pillars of the first series)
Kamen Rider Build (just really goddamn good)

If you wanna get up to speed with more modern Kamen Rider:
Watch Geats.

If you want to educate yourself on the basic Kamen Rider tropes:
Watch Kuuga, and then Ryuki.

If you want two gay idiots:
Watch Build.

If you want all of the above:
GO WATCH KAMEN RIDER GAVV.
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Can vouch for Geats. Really damn good, with an absolutely incredible underlying theme about desires and selfishness/selflessness.
Kermie said:
Valen is both angsty, goofy, and in his first fight he punched a guy with a gun. And when I say that he punched a guy with a gun, I mean that Valen bludgeoned a guy who was immune to bullets with the butt of his gun. Said gun is also an electric chair for the sentient collectible transformation gimmick food.

That's the same guy who they're shipping with Shouma, which helps because they're both dumbasses and also badasses. Shouma himself is the half-human son of a multi-world spanning candy/drug/Yakuza empire. Also if Shouma reveals that above fact to Valen there's a good chance that multiple things will explode
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There is a 50/50 chance in my mind that Valen either immediately challenges Shouma to a fight out of bullheaded "All Granute are bad RAAAAGH" energy or he acts like a reasonable adult, actually thinking through and recontextualizing every interaction between them, and their dynamic doesn't change too much (after the necessary angst).
Kermie said:
Oh, this is terrorism and human freedom, that's Kamen Rider, here's more "down to earth" experiences and the thrill of teenage love, those are magical girls.
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While I haven't watched it, from what I've read Revice was supposedly a more "down to earth" and comedic Kamen Rider show due to its focus on family. Because family is important, even when half that family is respective peoples' Inner Demons.
 
Finally caught back up and I want to add this:

I feel like the thing Shouma is forgetting is that he is Human. Valen could very well hear that he's a hybrid and go "Okay so the monsters kidnapped his mom and made Shouma- man this poor kid is traumatized- I WILL GET YOU GRANUTES!"

Cause like... Shouma is human. That is part of this character. He's not a Granute that turned his ways around and fight to protect innocent lives. He's a kid who was born because of the "Monsters" wanting to do a bunch of weird science things, and is a half breed.

Also Valen getting even more aggressive against Granutes because of Shouma's situation feels funny-
 
ThaTrueRealmWalk said:
Finally caught back up and I want to add this:

I feel like the thing Shouma is forgetting is that he is Human. Valen could very well hear that he's a hybrid and go "Okay so the monsters kidnapped his mom and made Shouma- man this poor kid is traumatized- I WILL GET YOU GRANUTES!"

Cause like... Shouma is human. That is part of this character. He's not a Granute that turned his ways around and fight to protect innocent lives. He's a kid who was born because of the "Monsters" wanting to do a bunch of weird science things, and is a half breed.

Also Valen getting even more aggressive against Granutes because of Shouma's situation feels funny-
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Good points.
But from what VERY little ive seen of the show?
Its less this poor kid is a hybrid and more on the lines of... well... the implications, Of What did Shouma do before leaving and fighting and all that jazz, and what the potential relation that has with Valen.
No spoilers for those that do or do not know. (Although Im pretty sure its shown like in the first few episodes? Maybe idk I repeat: havent seen anything)
 
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Please note that I was just yapping about what I said earlier about Kamen Riders and gender— I was in the middle of a road trip, I was just rambling. I don't know that much about that whole dynamic, since it's not really something I've taken too much time to investigate in full. I encourage everyone to watch the shows in the genre that they want to and make their own conclusions. And I also encourage you to watch more Gavv, but that one could have gone unsaid.
 
Just wanted to let you all know that I'm on vacation with my family for New Year's, so the next chapter might take a lot longer.

In return, have some of the bullet-point outline I've done for the non-roll parts.

  • Akemi and Aiko get into a conversation about fashion, Purrson remarks how it's making him fall asleep (same man)
  • Rei POV
  • Laser security system, uh oh
 
Kermie said:
Just wanted to let you all know that I'm on vacation with my family for New Year's, so the next chapter might take a lot longer.

In return, have some of the bullet-point outline I've done for the non-roll parts.

  • Akemi and Aiko get into a conversation about fashion, Purrson remarks how it's making him fall asleep (same man)
  • Rei POV
  • Laser security system, uh oh
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Anyway Happy new year Kermie. Best wishes!
 
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  • Voting
    • Scheduled vote count started by Kermie on Dec 27, 2024 at 9:08 PM, finished with 43 posts and 10 votes.
    [akemi] [rei]
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    • Hey there, everybody. Still writing out the outline for the next chapter, but I just wanted to tell you something.

    One of my favorite quests, Project Prometheus, is up for vote at the User's Choice awards, but it might lose by 1 or 2 votes to some cultivation story. You've probably already read Project Prometheus (statistically speaking, half of my readers also read that quest) but if you haven't, you really should. It's essentially double the length and three times as good as this quest, and it's superb in so many ways. If it wins User's Choice, the entirety of SV will be able to recognize it, and that's really great. Check out some reviews of it if you want to know what it's about. (1) (2)

    If it does win, I'm willing to give out 5 EP at random to one of the active readers of this quest. Even if you've already voted, encourage everybody you know with a SV account to read up to at least the end of Issues 1 or 2, so that they can show their support as well!

    And before you ask; I'm not getting any benefits for asking for this. No money, no roll bonuses over on that quest. I'm just doing this for the love of the game. Now go vote!
     
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