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Kamen Rider Geats 05 Analysis – Is Geats Folding Under TOO Many Characters?
I will be discussing: The Bad and Good of Geats 05 and problems with consistency.
#KamenRider #KamenRiderGeats #tokusatsu #RiderTears #HenshinInspection
CREDITS
Kamen Rider Geats 05 Encounter IV: A Game of Pairs – October 2, 2022
Writer: Yuya Takahashi
Director: Takayuki Shibasaki
SYNOPSIS
Michinaga continues showing his hostility to Ace while they are called into the the next round of the Desire Grand Prix, which requires the five remaining contestants to pair up. While the pairs are decided through lottery, each team fights to eliminate the Jyamato.
However, because there are an odd number of remaining contestants, the Desire Grand Prix management sends out one of their own, the mysterious Kamen Rider Punk Jack to pair up with the outlier. Who exactly is he and which pair will emerge victorious?
BAD
-We were almost shown too much and there wasn’t enough focus on any one idea, so it mostly felt unfinished to me
– Ace marking those Jamato in the second round didn’t make sense. They needed to destroy them to reveal the cards and then target them. Had he marked them in round 1, that would have worked.
GOOD
-The idea of the players figuring out how to cooperate in this unique game is interesting
-I like the explanation of the ideal sets of ID Cores and Gears. That makes sense
-Geats and Na-Go sure look cool fighting as a duo
QUESTIONS
-How is unexpected pain and trouble best handled?
-What is the problem here? Is Takahashi losing his great on telling a tight story with so many moving parts? Is it sticking to the two-episode format that is causing the problem? Is he stretching too little story too far?
SCORE
Episode 5 – 6/10
There was too much touched on and not enough dealt with. We got little glimpses of ideas and stories, but it wasn’t enough for me. This was a big miss for me overall. Hopefully next episode gets this show back on its solid trajectory.
LESSONS LEARNED
Be wary of making a cast so big and a scope so small that people get shoved aside. I suppose the real lesson is making sure your cast and setting match each other well. My main problem is that it feel like a lot was left out. What could have been done differently to make it work better? The format of the show is to move briskly, endear the the heroes to the audience and introduce cool toys. The game that was the setting of this story and single episode could have been made into an arc of a few episodes. We could have spent time with each team figuring out the game. In a book, that would be no issue, you take the time, you have more chapters, the final page or word count matter less than the restrictions of a 22 minutes show of around 50 episodes. Still it could have been done better. To put it simply: the author is in control and can right size the elements so they all flow well. You have to make choices and stick to them, even if it is hard.
SOURCES
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MJ Muñoz 