Watchalong commentary: Kamen Rider 555 Paradise Lost

[akinoame]

Akino Ame 11:40 pm
Finally sitting down to watch 555 Paradise Lost
I forgot how much I hated Kusaka

Thysiastery 11:41 pm
yeah, he's a cockbib

Akino Ame 11:41 pm
He really is
I tried looking for something redeemable about him, but nope

Thysiastery 11:42 pm
I can really see why the novel writer painted him as a rapist :|

Akino Ame 11:42 pm
He goes out of his way to be an unrepetent asshole to everyone
Yes
I do like that Mari isn't even giving him the time of day here
Just fed up with him entirely

Thysiastery 11:42 pm
yeah

Akino Ame 11:43 pm
That was always one of the most grating things about him for me. The fact that he's an obvious douche, and yet Mari and Keitaro can't catch on to the fact that he's purposely pitting them against Takumi

Thysiastery 11:43 pm
yeah :\

Akino Ame 11:44 pm
Okay, that was great
Smart Lady trying to hug Yuuji, with him immediately ducking

Akino Ame 11:45 pm
Then Kaido coming back and asking for a hug

Thysiastery 11:45 pm
heh
:( ngl, I hated how he and Yuka die in that movie

Akino Ame 11:46 pm
Aww
Yuka's death was hard enough in the series

Thysiastery 11:47 pm
oh, this is your first time watching Paradise Lost?

Akino Ame 11:47 pm
And then I just couldn't buy Yuuji turning so completely right after it
Yeah

Thysiastery 11:47 pm
oh okay, I'll shut up then

Akino Ame 11:47 pm
Hehe
I figured they didn't have a chance, though

Thysiastery 11:47 pm
yeah
I was disappointed with Yuuji too
especially when he and Takumi had all that buildup beforehand

Akino Ame 11:48 pm
His story arc should have ended with him becoming Faiz
Yes
At least do the dignity of killing him off before he's horribly disillusioned and everything

Thysiastery 11:49 pm
yeah

Akino Ame 11:53 pm
I really like the worldbuilding here, where you see the human slum and how Yuuji's trying to get them to trust him
Again, I really think he should have been the hero of the series

Thysiastery 11:54 pm
yeah, same

Akino Ame 11:54 pm
Much as Takumi won me over when it was revealed he was an orphnoch, Yuuji was the more interesting character

Thysiastery 11:54 pm
*nods*
you know what this means?
AU fanfic time

Akino Ame 11:54 pm
In a way, he was like Yuusuke, but better explored
Yes
...When I get my wrist fixed

Thysiastery 11:54 pm
too bad neither of us has the time

Akino Ame 11:54 pm
I know

Thysiastery 11:54 pm
that too
how is it?

Akino Ame 11:55 pm
It could always be a drabble project!
It's been sore today. It's feeling less painful now, but there's still that ache

Thysiastery 11:55 pm
that's something at least

Akino Ame 11:55 pm
Yeah
Hmm, maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to set up your hidden city in plain sight at the old abandoned amusement park just outside of town

Thysiastery 11:57 pm
probably

Akino Ame 11:59 pm
I have to wonder how long it took for all of this to happen
For there to be such a culture against humans
For even orphnoch children to exist
I'd think more orphnoch kids would have ended up like Takumi and be traumatized by what happened to them

Thysiastery 12:00 am
the whole orphenoch phenomenon would have to start a lot earlier

Akino Ame 12:07 am
Psyga's design makes me giggle, if only because it looks like the jet pack is coming out of his ass
Also, I'm not fond of the color scheme. Too bright

Thysiastery 12:08 am
yeah, it doesn't fit with everything else

Akino Ame 12:08 am
All of the other suits have darker color schemes

Thysiastery 12:08 am
yeah

Akino Ame 12:25 am
Huh. The false memory plot was interesting
At first, I thought it was going to be a case of mistaken identity, with Takumi's actor playing two roles, but when they actually sat down and explained it, I was satisfied

Thysiastery 12:25 am
*nods*

Akino Ame 12:26 am
I also think he was drawn to a friendship with the girl since she slightly resembles Mari

Thysiastery 12:26 am
most likely, yeah

Akino Ame 12:28 am
Wow. In just a few minutes, they give an amazing story arc for Takumi that is just too damn short

Thysiastery 12:28 am
it was :(

Akino Ame 12:29 am
I'll have to add it to the AU drabble project
This is how I do most of my AUs now, as drabbles

Thysiastery 12:29 am
*nods*

Akino Ame 12:29 am
So I'm not killing myself because I don't have the time

Thysiastery 12:29 am
good plan

Akino Ame 12:29 am
So it'll be the Paradise Lost worldbuilding, Takumi becoming Takeshi, and Yuuji becoming Faiz

Thysiastery 12:30 am
*nods*

Akino Ame 12:32 am
And really concentrate on the coexistence aspect
Both the series and the movie did all they could to utterly tear down that hope

Thysiastery 12:33 am
yup

Akino Ame 12:39 am
Yeah, Yuka's death is pretty irritating here
I notice she's a lot bolder in this version. Her family was probably killed before all the emotional abuse could destroy her

Thysiastery 12:40 am
probably

Akino Ame 12:40 am
And there goes Kaido

Thysiastery 12:41 am
oh Kaido :(

Akino Ame 12:41 am
While I was never a fan of him somehow being the only one of the orphnoch trio to survive (because really, he needed Yuuji and Yuka to keep him in check)
This is really not a strong way to kill him off

Thysiastery 12:41 am
yeah

Akino Ame 12:41 am
Yeah, that's getting revised. Both of them

Thysiastery 12:42 am
oh, good

Akino Ame 12:46 am
Wait, what was the point of the henshin oneshot failing if drinking another one solves the problem....oh, wait, it's a metaphor for liquor

Thysiastery 12:47 am
yeah

Akino Ame 12:57 am
*sigh*
I can never buy Yuuji betraying them, no matter what humans do to his friends

Thysiastery 12:57 am
me too :|

Akino Ame 12:57 am
Because the orphnochs have screwed him over so much

Thysiastery 12:58 am
yeah

Akino Ame 12:58 am
This is the problem: they've got such a well-developed character who ended up being so heroic, aided by good acting...that it doesn't work anymore forcing him into the villain role

Thysiastery 12:58 am
mhmm

Akino Ame 12:58 am
It was fine in the beginning, if grating, seeing him and Takumi pitted against each other by tragic misunderstanding
And manipulation by Smart Brain
But the further their friendship developed, the more devoted Yuuji became to his dream of humans and orphnochs coexisting, the less it works

Thysiastery 12:59 am
agreed

Akino Ame 1:00 am
And he's constantly taking it out on Takumi
Which is another problem the series has, unfortunately--using Takumi as the whipping boy

Thysiastery 1:00 am
mhmm

Akino Ame 1:01 am
Takumi is not the one who's hurt him. He learned from him how to be a better person and a better orphnoch. So why does he always default to "beat up Faiz" when something goes wrong?

Akino Ame 1:02 am
I wish the series had ended with the reveal of Takumi's true nature, when he seemingly betrayed everyone, only for Yuuji to realize he was trying to get killed. Then end with Takumi reclaiming the Faiz gear, becoming a much stronger person
That was the meat of the show

Thysiastery 1:03 am
it was
not going to lie though, the orphenoch king idea was interesting

Akino Ame 1:04 am
Yeah

Thysiastery 1:04 am
and a special kind of horrifying

Akino Ame 1:04 am
But it didn't get resolved well

Thysiastery 1:04 am
nope

Akino Ame 1:04 am
It was hanging for too long and then it was way too rushed
When it should have been a running theme in the background the whole time

Thysiastery 1:04 am
yeah

Akino Ame 1:06 am
...While I appreciate the symbolism of the dual nature of human and orphnoch with Yuuji and Takumi
Showing them as literally half and half is a little...
Um, I feel like I'm watching a cut scene from Harry Potter

Thysiastery 1:07 am
heh yeah

Akino Ame 1:12 am
Wait, now you're a good guy again?
Yuuji, you change sides more often than I change socks@!

Thysiastery 1:12 am
he does

Akino Ame 1:14 am
It's always so contrived. I wish the writer hadn't tried to stick to his original plans. This is a perfect example of why you should be flexible

Thysiastery 1:14 am
yeah

Akino Ame 1:16 am
...And somehow, the Chief's death is more disturbing than anything else in this
Not at all helped by the fact that you don't see any of it

Thysiastery 1:16 am
yeah

Thysiastery 1:16 am
I still don't know quite what happened

Akino Ame 1:16 am
Which is worse
Because it's left up to your imagination

Thysiastery 1:17 am
yeah

Akino Ame 1:18 am
...Realistically, Takumi should be fighting his way out of the stadium, given that he just destroyed three of the orphnochs' champions
And did nothing that should inspire them to leave him alone

Thysiastery 1:18 am
yeah

Akino Ame 1:18 am
Even with Blaster Mode's power, they'd still be able to swarm him

Akino Ame 1:18 am
Faiz didn't give them pause before

Thysiastery 1:18 am
*nods*
maybe they were stunned?
I dunno
I love the dystopian flavor, but Paradise Lost has a lot of problems

Akino Ame 1:19 am
Yeah, me too
Could have used a co-writer to help work out some of the kinks, and really just give up on Yuuji being the villain

Thysiastery 1:20 am
agreed

Akino Ame 1:21 am
Mind if I put this up as a commentary on my journal?

Thysiastery 1:21 am
go for it

Akino Ame 1:21 am
All right

Thysiastery 1:21 am
also
wtf is with that orphenoc monster

Akino Ame 1:21 am
'Cause it encapsulates all of my thoughts about Faiz. It's a great show, but wtf
Yes

Thysiastery 1:21 am
how does that even happen?

Akino Ame 1:22 am
Wouldn't that have been a person?

Thysiastery 1:22 am
yeah

Akino Ame 1:22 am
And they're treating them like an animal being caged?

Thysiastery 1:22 am
should have been, anyway

Akino Ame 1:22 am
Did Bruce Banner end up as an orphnoch?

Thysiastery 1:22 am
idek
maybe!

Akino Ame 1:22 am
...No, brain. Thor and Loki do not save everything

Thysiastery 1:22 am
XD

Thysiastery 1:23 am
I dunno, it could be funny

Akino Ame 1:23 am
Tony would still be human, since he's got that shrapnel near his heart. Doesn't really want to find out whether or not he can become an orphnoch

Thysiastery 1:24 am
Thor just strolling by, going all :D "HAY MIDGA...aard? Wait what happened? I was only gone 50 of your years!"

Akino Ame 1:24 am
...And I'm not writing this one

Thysiastery 1:24 am
I'd be tempted

Akino Ame 1:24 am
I'll do the Paradise Lost AU if you do Avengers AU

Thysiastery 1:24 am
Thor would take it upon himself to save the remaining humans
haha okay

Akino Ame 1:25 am
Winner: Thor