This was the first toku I was able to watch as it aired from ep1 to completion, and boy I have memories and feelings. This video was a great watch that avoids repeating a lot of the kind of discussion points that got kinda tiresome to me over the years! I think a lot of the "troubled tragedy" 2000s era stuff will feel a lot different to me whenever I go back and rewatch it a la carte, rather than weekly as I did thru that decade.
Thanks so much, I really appreciate the kind words especially since I've been a fan of your videos for some time! I've definitely found rewatching things, esp things I watched week-to-week is super interesting because as time passes I think our expectations from these shows changes to some degree. I really appreciate the comment about avoiding tired talking points because that's definitely been a goal of mine when making these videos!
Maybe this is the reason why Toei brought our boi Takumi/Faiz back in latter Rider movies like Heisei vs Showa and Super Hero Taisen GP. Also Zi-O snd D Special videos. Btw RIP to Yuji Kiba's actor who died a few years ago due to unknown disease.
Love Faiz, one of my top FIVE Heisei Kamen Rider series actually, and your point about what drew out Kiba’s change in the last arc of the series is interesting, I had trouble getting it at first, but that helped give a bit more basis to it. How do you feel about the resolution with the Orphnoch King and that last woman from Smart Brain and all though, and maybe that strange final image of the show and what it represents. I know Kamen Rider 4 tries to elaborate on Faiz’s ending as this huge ruse and downer ending of sorts, but I don’t really want to go along with that reading anyway and want to take it as is, but some of those last parts of the series did bewilder me a bit.
Thanks for the comment! I didn't really dig too deep into the King and that final lucky clover member bc they didn't really tie into my big points and I was already at 35 minutes lmao, BUT I do think they're interesting. The King is a really interesting idea for a final threat though like a lot of the Smart Brain stuff it kinda took a back seat for me to the main character stuff. I found it engaging nonetheless tho and its pretty shocking that I guess the kid just dies because of its final awakening? idk that whole plot is a LOT lol, and the final clover still sticking around and trying to take care of the king is really interesting but it's also ??? because there's no room for any follow-up and the movie certainly doesn't do anything with it lol. It's wild stuff. The final arc is def the most uneven part of the show but what it NEEDS to nail it nails HARD imo and that's really all that matters to me personally.
Kusaska death was the most beautiful examples of delicious karma I ever saw years ago.I still feel zero empathy for his final moments. Seriously,fuck.that.guy
Honestly my first thought seeing his death was "yeah he had that coming I Honestly don't feel bad about this" thing is tho you need characters like that like damn he was a real believable bastard and I liked that it makes for good story telling bro was smart and manipulative to the point where even the Takumi at times got fooled by his two faced nature
I really love Faiz warts and all. well not all its warts especially the how it often treats the women in its show... BUT it feels like the most human Rider show I've seen so far in that it is a huge mess a lot of the times. Kiba Yuji might be my favorite character in all of Rider(maybe?).He did an unforgivable action at the start of the show and I do feel like his ending is justified. But I don't know if I wholly agree with his real heal turn at the end having to do with control. His optimistic world view that he held on to so hard was crushed under the boot of humanity's worst. I feel like his turn is more of a "fine they want orphnoch to be monsters I'll show them monstrous". IDK. Great video though! Faiz is some great TV.
I think I mostly agree with you on Kiba! I think I wasn't as clear as I could've been on that point but the stuff about control was mainly me illustrating how his turn can sow doubt in the viewer's goodwill for the character. The specifics of my point are in reality less important than my bigger point which is that the show made a bold and mostly correct move in making this guy, who did something horrible, that the show makes you love anyway, drift VERY far from the viewer's wishes for the character. I should've been more clear there.
Faiz, maybe not be perfect, but it's one of my favorites. I wished that Mari would used the Faiz Gear at least once. She's not the best, but I do like her backstory. But my favorite characters of this show is, Takumi, Kiba, Yuka, and Kaido. They all have great development, Kiba and Yuka being the best. Kiba and Yuka are one of my top 3 favorite characters. But they don't beat Godai, my absolute favorite character. Kaido has a interesting backstory, I wish he didn't throw away his dream, he should just keep going. Takumi is different from Goda, Shouichi, and Shinji, who are all kind, Takumi prefers to be alone. Yuka has a sad backstory, I feel bad for her, I can relate. It's not that I was abuse at home or favored over the other sibling, but at school, I was bullied. She was bullied, and favored over. Yuka's death, in my opinion was great, but I wish didn't happen. Then, we get to Kiba. I wish I would call him the Godai of Faiz but I won't. Kiba is polite, many people consider him a rival for Takumi, from what I heard, but I'll disagree, he's the opposite. He's a friend, an ally, and someone you can trust. When he snapped when Yuka died, I thought that was emotional. Kiba becoming smart brain president didn't help his character. If Faiz didn't have those four characters, they wouldn't be anything good about it, beside the orphnochs. My most favorite out of the four are Kiba and Yuka. They just have such great character development. They're up there in my top 10 characters of Heisei Era Phase 1. Overall, Faiz is one of my favorites. If Naruhisa Arakawa, head writer for Kuuga, wrote the series, here how I would think he would make the series look like. I won't be going over the episodes. Kiba would be Faiz, Yuka would be Kaixa, and Takumi would be Delta. The Lucky Clover should be introduced around Episode 25. Smart Brain should be introduced around Episode 7. Should I make a fan fiction of this?
I'd say that's Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Mebius, or Kamen Rider Kuuga for me personally which I believe are the top 3 candidates for best written TV show of all time 👍
