Reaction/Commentary/Analysis: God Speed Love
Okay, first of all? It is WEIRD hearing Kamen Rider Skull do the end theme. But it's really good, and I think I like "One World" more than "Nobody's Perfect."
Overall, this movie was not bad. But I won't lie and say it was fantastic. For the most part, it was whelming. There was really a lot where it could have been amazing, but it really needed to take its time. So, here's some commentary to that effect.
Also, looking at this? I'm starting to think that Eddie Guzelian might've seen this movie. Or someone on RPM did. Because they construct the wastelands outside Corinth to look very much like this, cinematography-wise
Desert, destroyed cars, yellow filters
Kaitou 11:13 pm
oh wow
Akino Ame 11:13 pm
Filming on the beach with filters and tons of littered debris
I started thinking Dillon when there was a truck trying to get past ZECT through the wastes
Akino Ame 11:27 pm
And I ask again: What is ZECT DOING that is so oppressive?
You're in a post-apocalyptic society with extremely limited supplies of water. RATIONING IT OUT is SANE
What, is ZECT favoring some people over others? Is that it? SHOW IT!
Akino Ame 11:49 pm
And so far, it's not horrible
It's WHELMING
There's really a sense that this can be an awesome thing, if they just sat down and DEVELOPED it
Develop the story--what's ZECT doing that's so horrible that Neo-ZECT wants to be free? What DOES Neo-ZECT want? Why the fuck is Tendou so fixated on Hiyori, even moreso than in the series?
Develop the new characters--you only have an hour and a half for these guys. Give them personalities, motivations. Give us some meat
Squall highwind KA 11:51 pm
Caucasus can be summed down to "yeah. he kills peeps. Deal."
Akino Ame 11:51 pm
Oda. Jesus, Oda
"I like you. I don't like ZECT." THAT'S IT
Akino Ame 11:52 pm
And WHY DOES EVERYONE IN ZECT HAVE A CAPE?!"
Squall highwind KA 11:52 pm
if you knew anything about the ZECT facyions, then youd be able to get a semblance of Hercus and Ketaros' motivations...but nope
desert protection?
Akino Ame 11:52 pm
Is this why Neo-ZECT was formed? They don't have capes?!
I'd believe that if they were full-body capes, or Andros cloaks
But NO. They're like Beast
Beast's mantle
Squall highwind KA 11:53 pm
oh...thats right...theyre mantles
yeah. usel;ess
Akino Ame 11:53 pm
NO. CAPES.
Tangent on capes aside, yes. Big problem with the movie is the lack of development. One good thing I can say about Kabuto is its worldbuilding: it really took a huge risk with destroying Shibuya. Sure, the consequences could have been explored better, but with the excuse that ZECT is covering things up, okay. I can buy it. Desperately trying to maintain some sanity in this world.
But when you've got a post-apocalyptic planet where water is in short supply and ZECT is apparently the saviors of humanity...you need to work in better why there'd be another faction. Why do they have any reason to suspect that ZECT isn't as benevolent as they seem? Give Neo-ZECT more motivation--why do they want "freedom"? Hell, Oda's dying words are the most accurate and self-aware I've ever seen: "I hadn't done anything yet."
But...two things really save it. First is the acting, particularly on part of Hiro Mizushima (Tendou) and Yui Satonaka (Hiyori). They give fantastic performances that you wouldn't expect given how emotionally restricted they are in the series. Tendou's performances are always mostly arrogant with a softer side betrayed around Juka and Hiyori, and in one case, Gon. Hiyori, with the exception of Gon's goodbye episode, is extremely emotionally repressed because of her past trauma. Between that and Kagami getting a few chances to really be awesome and his actor, Yuuki Sato, to deliver some great emotional scenes, I think they really just did this movie to give their cast a chance to show off their talent.
And this particularly comes to a head with The Big Spoiler. This is something I hate in these earlier Heisei films. Admittedly, without seeing Project G4, Missing Ace, and The Seven Fighting Oni (or whatever it's called), I can't say this for certain, but it seems like all the pre-Den-O movies airing in the middle of the series were out to spoil the shit out of the finale. In Ryuki, EPISODE FINAL spoiled the fact that Yui was dying and the Rider War was to save her life. In 555, Paradise Lost spoiled the secret that Takumi was an Orphnoch.
In God Speed Love, the spoiler is that Hiyori is Tendou's sister. I was surprised at the revelation, but in all honesty, I'd started getting suspicious that she was either a Worm or his sister, with Juka being a Worm (seriously, don't spoil me on the finale--I want to see if I'm right or not). And while I like the reunion between brother and sister, while I like the way Tendou tries to give his sister and brother-in-law the wedding they wanted, I hate when they do this. If you go see the movie, you will be spoiled as all hell for the series. Still, it provided some good stuff for both of the characters.
And this brings me to the second reason I actually kind of liked this movie: I am a huge Ryuki nerd.
What does that have to do with Kabuto?
Well, God Speed Love is Ryuki.
Hear me out.
Akino Ame 12:14 am
To be honest, they could have left the Worms out of this movie entirely
They feel like a DISTRACTION from the main plot
ZECT and Neo-ZECT are at odds over how to save the world. Twist: ZECT is actually doing something evil
Kaitou 12:15 am
oh wow
Akino Ame 12:16 am
Yeah
They BARELY fight Worms
The real battle going on is between the Riders. So, in the great Heisei tradition, just let them beat the shit out of each other already
Looking at it, it almost seems to parallel Ryuki in scope
Riders fighting each other
Title character caught in the
That's my commentary while watching it. And it makes sense. In Ryuki, the real draw is the Riders fighting each other. The Monsters are filler. The reason why they're there is because the Riders need something to fight when they're not fighting each other. And because Shinji doesn't want to fight other Riders.
So here's the parallel. It's not perfect, since the personalities definitely don't match up, but you've got Tendou in Shinji's place. He's the guy caught between two warring factions, much like Shinji is caught between the Rider War--he doesn't want to participate, so he tries to find another way. Tendou, however, decides he's just going to sabotage everything because he thinks ZECT is up to something.
Kagami would be Ren. He's participating without question, and of course, there's the love story on the side. He winds up tied in with the title character, and the next thing they know, they have to fight against the system.
Oda and Yamato are basically the other Riders in the Rider War. They fight...because. Daisuke and...whatshisface with TheBee too. There's not enough development or anything on any of them, barring Daisuke and whatshisface having their appearances in the series to rely on, so I think all four of them just take the place of the other shit-ton of Riders in Ryuki.
Caucasus takes the place of Odin, obviously. He's the gold guy that you fight at the end--the most powerful and dangerous of all the Riders. The obstacle that has to be defeated if you want to win. Hell, even he calls attention to Tendou's attempts to draw him out. Tendou wanted to face him and take the Hyper Zecter from him, so he encouraged/manipulated the other Riders into fighting each other to draw him out. That's exactly what happens with Odin--he only appears to the final Rider, or in the rare cases when Shinji or Ren call him or Kanzaki out. Hell, his power is to overcome time and when he appears, something is flying around in the air--gold feathers for Odin, blue rose petals for Caucasus.
Which brings us to the second character Tendou parallels: Kanzaki. Kanzaki is the manipulator, and Tendou manipulates everybody not named Hiyori in this movie. He manipulates the Riders into fighting. He manipulates Kagami into giving him intel on the space station. He manipulates Neo-ZECT into trusting him. He betrays almost everyone. The ONLY reason he sticks with Kagami is because Kagami is engaged to his sister. Because all he wants is to protect his sister, since he failed to seven years ago. In the end, when he gets the Hyper Zecter and uses its...aw, hell, I'm just going to call it Time Vent--when he Time Vents and saves Kagami from Caucasus, he goes up to the meteor and decides to travel back in time seven years, taking the meteor with him--so he can save Hiyori. The new meteor collides with the old meteor, breaking it into a smaller chunk that causes only the destruction of Shibuya, rather than the global devastation. From there, as he's fading into the new timeline, he flies to his younger self reaching for Hiyori in the rubble and gives his younger self the belt, telling him to protect her. You know, what Kanzaki pretty much wanted to do but with a shitload more blood on his hands.
This ending implies that the events of the series take place from here, that the new timeline Tendou created before fading away is the series. But...the events don't match up with the flashbacks we see in the show. Why does Hiyori not remember her brother's existence? Why is she named Hiyori Kusakabe and her brother named Souji Tendou? Although, I do think that the failure to protect his sister would have led him to take on an alias, particularly something as obnoxious as "the path of heaven/ruling over all." The alternate past shows little Tendou managing to take his sister's hand and presumably pull her to safety, but in the series, Hiyori remembers being trapped in a room, not under rubble, and only seeing Tendou from a distance, not knowing who he was. The fairy-like figure she draws is supposed to be the angelic Hyper Kabuto, who transformed back into the adult Tendou and faded into light. But as she draws this, she's happy. The end theme plays over scenes more in-line with the series, including Juka existing, but then it ends with a happy scene of Tendou, Kagami, and Hiyori at the beach, playing in the waves and laughing--of course showing the more idealistic setting of an Earth with oceans still, but also apparently showing a more ideal world for Tendou and his sister. She's happy. That's all he wanted.
Anyway, I'll see how well it meshes with the series proper. On some level, I feel like they were planning on it matching the series exactly and then being forced into giving it a happier ending than it should have had, if only because things were downright bleak in the AU. But honestly? It's not terrible. I have seen far worse.
But seriously, what the fuck was up with those stupid capes?!
Overall, this movie was not bad. But I won't lie and say it was fantastic. For the most part, it was whelming. There was really a lot where it could have been amazing, but it really needed to take its time. So, here's some commentary to that effect.
Also, looking at this? I'm starting to think that Eddie Guzelian might've seen this movie. Or someone on RPM did. Because they construct the wastelands outside Corinth to look very much like this, cinematography-wise
Desert, destroyed cars, yellow filters
Kaitou 11:13 pm
oh wow
Akino Ame 11:13 pm
Filming on the beach with filters and tons of littered debris
I started thinking Dillon when there was a truck trying to get past ZECT through the wastes
Akino Ame 11:27 pm
And I ask again: What is ZECT DOING that is so oppressive?
You're in a post-apocalyptic society with extremely limited supplies of water. RATIONING IT OUT is SANE
What, is ZECT favoring some people over others? Is that it? SHOW IT!
Akino Ame 11:49 pm
And so far, it's not horrible
It's WHELMING
There's really a sense that this can be an awesome thing, if they just sat down and DEVELOPED it
Develop the story--what's ZECT doing that's so horrible that Neo-ZECT wants to be free? What DOES Neo-ZECT want? Why the fuck is Tendou so fixated on Hiyori, even moreso than in the series?
Develop the new characters--you only have an hour and a half for these guys. Give them personalities, motivations. Give us some meat
Squall highwind KA 11:51 pm
Caucasus can be summed down to "yeah. he kills peeps. Deal."
Akino Ame 11:51 pm
Oda. Jesus, Oda
"I like you. I don't like ZECT." THAT'S IT
Akino Ame 11:52 pm
And WHY DOES EVERYONE IN ZECT HAVE A CAPE?!"
Squall highwind KA 11:52 pm
if you knew anything about the ZECT facyions, then youd be able to get a semblance of Hercus and Ketaros' motivations...but nope
desert protection?
Akino Ame 11:52 pm
Is this why Neo-ZECT was formed? They don't have capes?!
I'd believe that if they were full-body capes, or Andros cloaks
But NO. They're like Beast
Beast's mantle
Squall highwind KA 11:53 pm
oh...thats right...theyre mantles
yeah. usel;ess
Akino Ame 11:53 pm
NO. CAPES.
Tangent on capes aside, yes. Big problem with the movie is the lack of development. One good thing I can say about Kabuto is its worldbuilding: it really took a huge risk with destroying Shibuya. Sure, the consequences could have been explored better, but with the excuse that ZECT is covering things up, okay. I can buy it. Desperately trying to maintain some sanity in this world.
But when you've got a post-apocalyptic planet where water is in short supply and ZECT is apparently the saviors of humanity...you need to work in better why there'd be another faction. Why do they have any reason to suspect that ZECT isn't as benevolent as they seem? Give Neo-ZECT more motivation--why do they want "freedom"? Hell, Oda's dying words are the most accurate and self-aware I've ever seen: "I hadn't done anything yet."
But...two things really save it. First is the acting, particularly on part of Hiro Mizushima (Tendou) and Yui Satonaka (Hiyori). They give fantastic performances that you wouldn't expect given how emotionally restricted they are in the series. Tendou's performances are always mostly arrogant with a softer side betrayed around Juka and Hiyori, and in one case, Gon. Hiyori, with the exception of Gon's goodbye episode, is extremely emotionally repressed because of her past trauma. Between that and Kagami getting a few chances to really be awesome and his actor, Yuuki Sato, to deliver some great emotional scenes, I think they really just did this movie to give their cast a chance to show off their talent.
And this particularly comes to a head with The Big Spoiler. This is something I hate in these earlier Heisei films. Admittedly, without seeing Project G4, Missing Ace, and The Seven Fighting Oni (or whatever it's called), I can't say this for certain, but it seems like all the pre-Den-O movies airing in the middle of the series were out to spoil the shit out of the finale. In Ryuki, EPISODE FINAL spoiled the fact that Yui was dying and the Rider War was to save her life. In 555, Paradise Lost spoiled the secret that Takumi was an Orphnoch.
In God Speed Love, the spoiler is that Hiyori is Tendou's sister. I was surprised at the revelation, but in all honesty, I'd started getting suspicious that she was either a Worm or his sister, with Juka being a Worm (seriously, don't spoil me on the finale--I want to see if I'm right or not). And while I like the reunion between brother and sister, while I like the way Tendou tries to give his sister and brother-in-law the wedding they wanted, I hate when they do this. If you go see the movie, you will be spoiled as all hell for the series. Still, it provided some good stuff for both of the characters.
And this brings me to the second reason I actually kind of liked this movie: I am a huge Ryuki nerd.
What does that have to do with Kabuto?
Well, God Speed Love is Ryuki.
Hear me out.
Akino Ame 12:14 am
To be honest, they could have left the Worms out of this movie entirely
They feel like a DISTRACTION from the main plot
ZECT and Neo-ZECT are at odds over how to save the world. Twist: ZECT is actually doing something evil
Kaitou 12:15 am
oh wow
Akino Ame 12:16 am
Yeah
They BARELY fight Worms
The real battle going on is between the Riders. So, in the great Heisei tradition, just let them beat the shit out of each other already
Looking at it, it almost seems to parallel Ryuki in scope
Riders fighting each other
Title character caught in the
That's my commentary while watching it. And it makes sense. In Ryuki, the real draw is the Riders fighting each other. The Monsters are filler. The reason why they're there is because the Riders need something to fight when they're not fighting each other. And because Shinji doesn't want to fight other Riders.
So here's the parallel. It's not perfect, since the personalities definitely don't match up, but you've got Tendou in Shinji's place. He's the guy caught between two warring factions, much like Shinji is caught between the Rider War--he doesn't want to participate, so he tries to find another way. Tendou, however, decides he's just going to sabotage everything because he thinks ZECT is up to something.
Kagami would be Ren. He's participating without question, and of course, there's the love story on the side. He winds up tied in with the title character, and the next thing they know, they have to fight against the system.
Oda and Yamato are basically the other Riders in the Rider War. They fight...because. Daisuke and...whatshisface with TheBee too. There's not enough development or anything on any of them, barring Daisuke and whatshisface having their appearances in the series to rely on, so I think all four of them just take the place of the other shit-ton of Riders in Ryuki.
Caucasus takes the place of Odin, obviously. He's the gold guy that you fight at the end--the most powerful and dangerous of all the Riders. The obstacle that has to be defeated if you want to win. Hell, even he calls attention to Tendou's attempts to draw him out. Tendou wanted to face him and take the Hyper Zecter from him, so he encouraged/manipulated the other Riders into fighting each other to draw him out. That's exactly what happens with Odin--he only appears to the final Rider, or in the rare cases when Shinji or Ren call him or Kanzaki out. Hell, his power is to overcome time and when he appears, something is flying around in the air--gold feathers for Odin, blue rose petals for Caucasus.
Which brings us to the second character Tendou parallels: Kanzaki. Kanzaki is the manipulator, and Tendou manipulates everybody not named Hiyori in this movie. He manipulates the Riders into fighting. He manipulates Kagami into giving him intel on the space station. He manipulates Neo-ZECT into trusting him. He betrays almost everyone. The ONLY reason he sticks with Kagami is because Kagami is engaged to his sister. Because all he wants is to protect his sister, since he failed to seven years ago. In the end, when he gets the Hyper Zecter and uses its...aw, hell, I'm just going to call it Time Vent--when he Time Vents and saves Kagami from Caucasus, he goes up to the meteor and decides to travel back in time seven years, taking the meteor with him--so he can save Hiyori. The new meteor collides with the old meteor, breaking it into a smaller chunk that causes only the destruction of Shibuya, rather than the global devastation. From there, as he's fading into the new timeline, he flies to his younger self reaching for Hiyori in the rubble and gives his younger self the belt, telling him to protect her. You know, what Kanzaki pretty much wanted to do but with a shitload more blood on his hands.
This ending implies that the events of the series take place from here, that the new timeline Tendou created before fading away is the series. But...the events don't match up with the flashbacks we see in the show. Why does Hiyori not remember her brother's existence? Why is she named Hiyori Kusakabe and her brother named Souji Tendou? Although, I do think that the failure to protect his sister would have led him to take on an alias, particularly something as obnoxious as "the path of heaven/ruling over all." The alternate past shows little Tendou managing to take his sister's hand and presumably pull her to safety, but in the series, Hiyori remembers being trapped in a room, not under rubble, and only seeing Tendou from a distance, not knowing who he was. The fairy-like figure she draws is supposed to be the angelic Hyper Kabuto, who transformed back into the adult Tendou and faded into light. But as she draws this, she's happy. The end theme plays over scenes more in-line with the series, including Juka existing, but then it ends with a happy scene of Tendou, Kagami, and Hiyori at the beach, playing in the waves and laughing--of course showing the more idealistic setting of an Earth with oceans still, but also apparently showing a more ideal world for Tendou and his sister. She's happy. That's all he wanted.
Anyway, I'll see how well it meshes with the series proper. On some level, I feel like they were planning on it matching the series exactly and then being forced into giving it a happier ending than it should have had, if only because things were downright bleak in the AU. But honestly? It's not terrible. I have seen far worse.
But seriously, what the fuck was up with those stupid capes?!