KR Build 25 released

A genius Rider who builds everything.
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Ratings

Poll ended at Sun Mar 18, 2018 9:48 pm

☆☆☆☆☆
6
32%
☆☆☆☆
6
32%
☆☆☆
6
32%
☆☆
0
No votes
1
5%
 
Total votes: 19
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KR Build 25 released

Post by takenoko »

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Alt title - One star, best hit of everything wrong with Build

Last week's results: 4.33 / 5 (12 votes)

It was awesome to see Misora use her cool powers, but the rest of the episode was downhill from there. I was already thinking it was a boring episode even before they killed off the red guy. All I can do is roll my eyes at this point.

Oh, another proxy fight? We're only halfway through the series, do we really need to retread on everything done before?
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by TypicalStandUser »

I apologize for not emoting so much on Akaba's death. To quote Soichi, another weapon broken.

About the barista though, he may regret giving his daughter that bangle later on. It could be the Hope of what's inside that Box that could monkeywrench Stark and Nanba.

Lemme guess, Nanba Heavy Industries has awesome PR because Nanba helped orphans pursue better things in life as assets for war. Wonderful.

Can't wait for Build Fighters 2: Electric Bogaloo.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by Lunagel »

Man Akaba, that was such an obvious death flag I'm surprised you didn't start talking about what you'd do after the war. Ah well, goodbye Three Crows, you were barely tolerable.

Anyone else getting Faiz vibes from the orphans bit?
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by takenoko »

It makes me super sad to learn that Utsumi is one. Good byGoodbye characterization, hello brainwashed non-characters. I think at the end of the series, it's these lazy narrative shortcuts that will make Build just an okay series, versus whatever potential it had.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by Catastrophe »

I looked back, and the aid that was the spy is in the background of some previous episodes. Still a non-character though.

Just like the Kaiser Bros. Somehow Grease and Cross-Z are able to body them this episode. Cross-Z almost immediately after he gets told his attacks do nothing are doing something? Banjou finally remembered he has a sword as well.

I really like Build, but these war arcs haven't been the best. Most of the characterisation has slipped as well. Hopefully having the proxy battle means they'll put it to bed and we'll start heading towards the actual plot.

And geez, I wonder who the spy could be? It couldn't possibly be the supporting character that is still unusually absent and was proven to be a spy before.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by takenoko »

Yeah, I noticed that the guy was in a few episodes recently and was surprised, since he left zero impression. I feel like in olden times, maybe that guy would have had a few lines or done something memorable before being revealed to be a plot important character. Now, guests are mostly just living background.

Fixed the "goodbye" in the previous post.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by TypicalStandUser »

I don't watch much anime lately, but Sora Amamiya better return as a posthumous Martian character and explain herself.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by ViRGE »

Man, the first half of this episode was so good. A cliffhanger is resolved, the main plot moves forward, Misora gets a touching (if short) character moment, etc. And then it all goes to hell.

What does it mean for a toku show when the least interesting part is the fighting? And it's not like the fight choreography is anything less than great, but the reasons for these characters to fight have been beaten to death so much that they no longer matter. The plot feels like it's fighting for the sake of fighting.

At this point I'm just automatically taking a point off for every time Sento loses control of Hazard and something bad happens. I am so sick and tired of that gimmick every single week. It's worse than OOO's purple combo. At least purple OOOs won his fights; Sento has lost every fight in recent memory except the proxy fight against Grease.

Anyhow, the fact that this is sort of a long-term plan from Nanba such that he had time to setup a whole corp of brainwashed orphans could be interesting. But as Takenoko rightfully points out, it just robs these characters of their agency. Not that it helps that Barista Snake is still pulling all the strings anyhow.

Overall I just find this series so odd and hard to digest. The typical drawback of a Rider series is the stupid comic relief characters (see: Wizard), which defuse the tension of an episode at the worst possible time. At one point or another we've all thought "if only KR was a bit more serious." Well we finally got it, and it sucks. And not because it turns out that serious is bad, but because the writers can't seem to couple it to a good plot. The series is stuck in place waiting for the next power-up, filling up its spare time with bad soap opera drama.
Lunagel wrote: Wed Mar 07, 2018 7:17 am Man Akaba, that was such an obvious death flag I'm surprised you didn't start talking about what you'd do after the war. Ah well, goodbye Three Crows, you were barely tolerable.
At least Akaba went out like a boss. It can't redeem an arc where the characters have been flagged for death for several episodes now, but it's something.
Catastrophe wrote: Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:08 amBanjou finally remembered he has a sword as well.
And thank goodness for that. There's been a serious lack of weaponry in this series, and it hasn't done the series any favors. Though I'd still like regular Cross-Z back. :(
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by Catastrophe »

Charges suit is growing on me. You are correct though, it pales in comparison to the original versions design.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by TokuCasual »

Come on Build, what happened. Everything is just going in a circle now. Another Proxy fight. It was already almost stale the first time around.

I feel ever since the war arc started, things have been going downhill. The first half was fine, in that it played with its characters and their development. Whereas now, it's just routine.

I'm disappointed.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by Ashki »

While I agree it feels boring to have another proxy fight, I feel like it's a good writing strategy at this point. Consider this:

1. 2/3 of Japan has just been reunited.
2. (Night) Rogue has returned in a very Hopper Bros. fashion and it's pretty obvious he'll now be a permanent villain, whereas before he had the possibility of redemption.
3. They've made it very obvious that hazard levels are vital somehow to the opening of Pandora's Box, and these proxy fights are increasing those levels.
4. The whole "three governments" thing was starting to go very stale by the time the war started, since we knew that wasn't going to be the main plot even before that.

I could go into other points, but the way I see it, they're trying to wrap up the reunification as soon as possible to make way for the main arc (Stark and the opening of Pandora's Box). The build-up of divided Japan was interesting and all, but it was threatening to derail the main arc, and we already know how dangerous that is from the tragedy that was Ghost. We're also starting to suffer from the same problems we had in W, OOO, and Ex-Aid where half the episodes involved collecting (and subsequently losing) henshin items to explain why only certain forms were being used. Uniting Japan means those bottles will either be with Stark or the team, instead of spread across five separate factions.

Hazard may be annoying, but it's something we've been needing for a LONG time now. Throughout the second Heisei phase, most of the ultra-power-ups have either had no side effects or the risk was resolved in only a few episodes. Compare that to OOO or even W where a power-up came with a similar risk. What makes Hazard far more tolerable for me is that we SEE Sento slowly learning to control the side effects, but it remains dangerous for him to use it. The fact that they can knock him out of Hazard mode doesn't necessarily make him weaker, it just means a part of him is still fighting to regain control and that's interrupting the destructive capabilities of the trigger. Once he gains full control, he'll be better able to use that power and be almost as powerful as when Hazard was first used. I have a feeling Misora gave him that control, judging from how his suit changed at the end.

If we're lucky, Japan will be reunited by episode 28 and the main arc will become the full focus of the series. This show's good, but dragging on the division sub-arc any further would be a huge mistake.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by takenoko »

I dunno, feel like you're making a bunch of assumptions that are based on leaps of logic:

1. 2/3 of Japan has just been reunited.

Why is this a good thing? Hurray, 2/3 of Japan has been conquered by a clearly morally bankrupt and ruthless ruler. You just swapped an evil woman with an evil man.

2. (Night) Rogue has returned in a very Hopper Bros. fashion and it's pretty obvious he'll now be a permanent villain, whereas before he had the possibility of redemption.

He could still be redeemed? He's clearly not on the same page as the orphan kids or Team Seito. Sooner or later, that old man Namba is going to pull a Zeromos on these guys and become the final villain. Also, I know a lot of people like the Hopper brothers, but I always thought they were one of the worst things to be added to Kabuto. Such dead end, one note characters.

3. They've made it very obvious that hazard levels are vital somehow to the opening of Pandora's Box, and these proxy fights are increasing those levels.

I feel like the Hazard Levels are totally being used poorly in Build. Stuff like levels are only good when like some anime character remembers the power of love and then gains like double his power. Or like when Goku throws off his weighted clothing and suddenly jumps up in strength. You have to make numbers sexy and fun, Build. Instead, Hazard Levels are like watching a progress bar for when the next cool upgrade gets unlocked. Count up the medals by decimals, why doncha?

4. The whole "three governments" thing was starting to go very stale by the time the war started, since we knew that wasn't going to be the main plot even before that.

I'll agree with that. At least the political stuff is changing with the plot, but... a lot of people are annoyed because there's virtually no difference between the north being evil as the west being evil. Except we know even less about their story than the north.

Build has some good episodes, but they need to change it up or something fast, because they're stuck in a repetitive rut. At least they don't have any more idiots to kill off for the time being.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by Catastrophe »

It's a shame. The first arc wasn't the normal poorly paced bullshit we've had in previous years, and then the fuck it up towards the middle.
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Re: KR Build 25 released

Post by chaossage13 »

takenoko wrote: Sat Mar 03, 2018 8:48 pm Oh, another proxy fight? We're only halfway through the series, do we really need to retread on everything done before?
I don't even understand the point to the proxy fight. Last proxy fight, Hokuto tried to pull a fast one and got taken over. As if *no one* is going to attempt something similar.

And I know this isn't the thread for it so I won't go too fanboy, but I recently started watching Kamen Rider Amazons and have been thinking "...this is good. These stories go places and these characters are growing and maturing. Why aren't the major Rider series like this?" Yes, they're only 13 (albeit longer) episodes and there's still monsters of the week but the characterization and plot development keep a steady pace that I enjoy.
Ashki wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:15 pm Hazard may be annoying, but it's something we've been needing for a LONG time now. Throughout the second Heisei phase, most of the ultra-power-ups have either had no side effects or the risk was resolved in only a few episodes. Compare that to OOO or even W where a power-up came with a similar risk. What makes Hazard far more tolerable for me is that we SEE Sento slowly learning to control the side effects, but it remains dangerous for him to use it. The fact that they can knock him out of Hazard mode doesn't necessarily make him weaker, it just means a part of him is still fighting to regain control and that's interrupting the destructive capabilities of the trigger. Once he gains full control, he'll be better able to use that power and be almost as powerful as when Hazard was first used. I have a feeling Misora gave him that control, judging from how his suit changed at the end.
I would agree with you, but there hasn't really been much controlling of side effects beyond "beat me down before I become an issue." The routine for hazard trigger usually seems to be:

1) fearful to use
2) use anyway or be assured that he'll be stopped
3) realize control is being lost (I honestly don't want or need to see any more stock footage of his urge to destroy being launched at his brain)
4) control lost followed by merciless beat-down
5) knocked out of power up

I thought Misora was going to be the source of purifying the power up but I'm not sure. His eyes change from "rabbit tank" to "rabbit rabbit," but I have no idea what that even means. And more disappointing,
Spoiler
the preview for next week suddenly has Sento going "I'll make a device to stop me from losing myself." That is so anti-climactic to me, especially since it could have been done long before this point. My reaction was literally "of course you will, because science."
takenoko wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:30 pm I feel like the Hazard Levels are totally being used poorly in Build. Stuff like levels are only good when like some anime character remembers the power of love and then gains like double his power. Or like when Goku throws off his weighted clothing and suddenly jumps up in strength. You have to make numbers sexy and fun, Build. Instead, Hazard Levels are like watching a progress bar for when the next cool upgrade gets unlocked. Count up the medals by decimals, why doncha?
That is exactly why this episode's fighting felt blah to me. What little excitement I had at Build "outsmarting" the Gear Bros with bottle combinations which *weren't even* best matches was leveled out immediately by Cross Dragon's "Oh, his hazard level suddenly grew." Hazard levels are always demonstrated to be all important but then are completely arbitrary when the writers feel like it. I'm sure the power ups will be treated the same as Ex-Aid's too. Once Build's demi-ultimate and ultimate form become available, previous forms will be largely ignored and Dragon and Grease will become the new, ineffective "Tactics Level 50" and "Skill Level 50."

Miscellaneous complaints:

They need to show what Rogue's side effect is. There's no way "cracking" an already evil purple bottle comes without negative side effects, especially since the jellies and hazard trigger put everyone into berserker mode. If there are any, I'm thinking it's going to be a Kamen Rider Baron type deal where Rogue will become a humanoid smash.

Barista Snake has no problems being manipulative and several steps ahead of everyone, but there's no way I'm buying that his faux daughter with the shiny bracelet and light up eyes opening a hole up in skywall is enough to catch him off guard and have him allegedly back off.

I'm hoping after this proxy fight and the subsequent "results" episodes that the story gets better and less cyclical.
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