This is the right way to do a toy commercial.
Even though I don't like the amount of forms,
and I have issues with how they've been implemented
overall, the idea that Kamen Rider is a much
more successful show financially, toy sales -wise,
than Super Sentai was for a long time, and I
think possibly more financially successful than
Ultraman, I'm pretty sure. It's like 23 versus
17 versus 5. million yen or whatever that's right
or ultra than sentai um and the five is actually
missing like six that made it around 11 because
of power rangers licensing hasbro licensing whatever
uh over time but this show just introduced this
new toy a couple new toys the catastrophe driver
attachment thing which i really hate the driver
attachment idea um it's just just it bothers
me um that thing This new Catastrum Buster, or
whatever it's called, that you have to stick
three balls into, three capsules into. And also
this really, really goofy looking Wave Rider
Goblin Glider. I'm not sure what the heck the
thing was supposed to be, but they did show it.
It's a little bit of an echo of the Extreme Bird
from Kamen Rider Double, which as much as I like,
not Kamen Rider Double because I don't like it.
I have my issues with it, which we can discuss
later. As much as I like Joker Extreme, or no,
is it Cyclone Joker Extreme, or is it just Extreme?
Whatever. His form where he's split in the middle,
he's got this prism breaker thing, and he's got
this shield and sword kind of deal going on,
and he's silver in the middle. It's a really
cool form. There's a lot to like about it. And
he has this weird... bird thing that beams him
up and beams him I don't know it's a weird form
and it's like a really goofy set of stuff that
it does in order to make it work in the logic
of the show which I appreciate that they try
to make it work in the logic of the show but
just like why not just change the way that the
transformation works so you don't have to do
this goofy thing anyway whatever it's interesting
but I don't like the extreme bird overall and
this thing this platform thing that he was on
at one point for like Just a few seconds and
he was like, it was mostly shrouded in shadow.
Catastrophe is being framed very much as like
a dark writer type of thing. Kind of like Hazard
from Build, which was fabulous. That was played
off. And if they wanted to emphasize that, they
could have just kept the thing shrouded in shadow
and then later revealed that he had like a redeemed
or light version of it, if they're going to do
that sort of thing. Kind of like with another
Takahashi show, Zero One, they had Cluster Hopper,
I think is what it's called. metal cluster hopper
anyway they did something where it was like an
evil form at first and then he ended up redeeming
it or whatever figured out how to work it i don't
know to his advantage and maintain his humanity
while using it we have something similar going
on here and the drama and the action well first
of all the action is very satisfying to watch
i have all these moral questions and i'm uncomfortable
what's going on and i feel very conflicted about
the motivations and the morality and what's actually
going on here. And I'm a little bit wanting to
contradict myself from last week, but I'm also
wanting to say, you know, new things to him.
So it's not a contradiction. I'm actually, um,
the story's getting deeper and it's, it's sharing
more facets with us. So there's more to discuss.
However, it's just freaking cool to watch him.
Catastrophe, uh, destroy Baku or I'm sorry, destroy
Knox. Hmm. Is that a Freudian slip or what? Destroy
Knox, first of all. Uh, and then afterwards destroy
the, uh, demon King nightmare. And. It just looks
cool. I especially love the, uh, the close range
point blink, like putting a bazooka or a shotgun
up to somebody and then just shooting them with
it. That's a lot of fun. Um, it's a lot of fun.
Uh, so this dumb belt add on and this big buster
bazooka gun thingy and the new suit itself, which
would constitute a new figure would be like the
flagship for a new figure. Uh, they're all working.
They're all selling to me as somebody who doesn't
like. the heavy toy sales of common raider but
they feel meaningful and they feel purposeful
and they're definitely getting a large emotional
reaction out of me if they can be redeemed it'd
be even better because it feels like he's operating
in a very morally gray area here sort of maybe
kind of but we'll discuss that later um that's
not my focus here my focus is just to say how
intensely good the marketing is here and to go
back to my point from the top Stuff like this,
the story mattering, the stakes mattering, and
the forms having a huge impact on the story is
exactly why Kamen Rider is able to sell toys
the way it is. Even if I don't participate in
that market, I understand, wow, this is really
cool. Something pivotal is happening here. This
form change is meaningful. it's having consequences
in the show i don't know how far they will be
reaching i don't know how far reaching they'll
be i don't know like i doubt this is his final
form he's gonna get something you know else which
i prefer something more to the original silhouette
but regardless of what i want it feels like this
should evolve into the final form which it definitely
won't i don't think my point is though this is
how you tell or sell a toy this is how you sell
a story this matters and it's not that there's
no going back it's that this will shift the trajectory
of the show and baku's arc as a character and
these toys these new forms these new weapons
are playing a vital part in that and they make
it matter they make you want to have them it
makes you they make you want to be attached to
them in some way or have them if it appeals to
you you know especially um i can see for a somebody
who's an easier sell on toys oh yeah of course
i'm getting this is amazing it's so cool i gotta
get this you know a kid or an adult collector
or whatever i can definitely see the appeal of
this and it's really impressive because you have
all this complex like really complicated things
going on with the story i think i think it's
a very morally challenging arc of the story that's
being presented i don't think the message will
be muddled i don't think the morality will be
muddled but baku is a 20 year old i believe he's
having time to have this crisis of morality of
duty of knowing what the right thing is to do
especially with all this power that he's been
given and i find it really interesting it's a
really compelling story and the people around
him kind of argued for him to go down this path
already and yet nem is this other voice saying
that you know she's doubtful about it uh that
this is the right thing to do and like fujimi
doesn't chastise him or he's not angry with him
for killing odaka he gets it he's a police officer
he should be prepared he's a detective he should
be prepared to kill somebody in the line of duty
if he has to and he might be operating from that
place that might be why he had the reaction he
had whereas nam is a you know 14 year old girl
18 year old girl whatever she's got this arrested
development she was a teen and then she was frozen
for three years uh essentially so she hasn't
had the time to develop and to face these complex
questions and this is all being thrown at little
kids which is funny and like maybe i'll fly over
the heads maybe they'll just think oh that's
a cool form um like hey what's wrong with my
hero wise baku you know i'm no longer baku yc7
now i can't believe this is all being sold to
me so well and it's all being done so powerfully
where it's making me question it's not making
me question who i am as a person or my own morality
it's well the point is again was the third time
i've said i think This writing and this story
is being so effectively done and being so effectively
told that it's making an impact on me. And there's
the marketing concept of seven touches. You got
to touch somebody seven times before they're
actually listening to your ad, which is why the
ads repeat on the radio and on the TV and all
these other things. And it's happening. The show's
touching me. It's touching me. It's making a
mark. It's going into my head. And I'm really
impressed by it. And I get it. I'm, you know,
I'm like, uh, I'm being marketed to, I'm being
catered to as far as, you know, having this desire
for deep storytelling, uh, that, that itch is
being scratched to put it in the common parlance.
Um, and, uh, and I just find it impressive and
I don't know. What's going on? And I'm wondering,
like, what is Takahashi's actual morality? What
is he trying to represent? Like, what's the deeper
thing being said here? I don't know if that really
matters. I don't know if it really matters, but
one last time. It's amazing. If you look at this
versus other things, which, to be fair, I haven't
watched Sentai in the last few years, but I've
been watching Ultraman. And just, other than
Gamma Future and Jeed's... galactic armor that
appears in zet like nothing like that just looks
amazing and i want it and blazar is a beautiful
suit design and it's it's impressive all on its
own it doesn't need any armors it doesn't need
any braces it doesn't need any other weapons
he's just like a beautiful thing he's just a
beautiful thing to look at and behold and like
that sells that image sells then the blazar story
sells even more like i just have this attachment
and this like love for it uh and I think Zets
is cementing itself as definitely one of my favorite
things that Kamen Rider's done, definitely one
of my favorite entries in the Kamen Rider series,
because of the amazing story that it's telling.
And I just can't get over how good it is and
how impressed I am with the writing and with
the quality of the craft that's going into making
this story work. And I don't know, I'm just going
to keep belaboring it if I continue, so I'm going
to stop now and ask you... Do you find this compelling?
Do you find this moral question at play to be
fascinating and interesting? Is it drawing you
into the show? And also, do you think Catastrum's
doing a good job of making that work? Are they
doing a good job of selling Catastrum if you're
into the toys? And if you're not into the toys,
I'd be curious to hear what you have to say.
And what else? I don't know what else. Check
out the pinned comment for more. You can check
out my, well... Everything else I have going
on there, you're going to like it. Hopefully
there will be some good bonus content there as
well as I spend more time thinking about this.
As I'm producing the show, I'll come up with
more things to put in on the bonus content for
you to enjoy. So until next time, folks, this
is MJ with Writer Tears and Henshin Inspection
signing out.