mmanalysis:queerspeculativefiction:overdrivegeneration:mmanalysis:overdrivegeneration:sentairidercon
mmanalysis:queerspeculativefiction:overdrivegeneration:mmanalysis:overdrivegeneration:sentairiderconfessions:I find it very hard to praise Kiva for strong female characters when the show then had them constantly screwed over by the men in their lives (I count Nago in this … he has zero redeeming qualities!)And you know what… Despite all of that they keep their heads high and move forward as the badasses they are. It is a lesson. Of course it isn’t right and in no sense are the men in Kiva shown to be in the right. They are shown at every turn that they are assholes and in the wrong. That is Nago’s whole character arc. They are shown to be very wrong and the woman of Kiva are the ones who show them that. These women struggle much like those in the real world. I would say they are highly relatable characters. And in that is their strength. They teach people that despite the unfairness and cruelty you can fight back and come out on top. Even if it is a personal victory. Yuri is a prime example of that. She didn’t let anything affect her goals and even her love life. She stayed strong throughout. When Otoya was a jerk she very much put him in his place and moved on with her life. You didn’t see her cry about it and have that lost love take over and consume her life. And Megumi is wonderful as well. She was allowed to be so much as a character besides the typical “strong female character.” She was allowed to be funny, smart, beautiful, courageous, and an incredible warrior. Most female characters tend to only be allowed to be one of those things. There is so much more I can say about the other females in this particular show but I will finish with this. Yes, they are put through a lot. Yes, they get screwed over. But they stay strong and continue fighting for their beliefs and their will. Despite everything they continue to fight on. And I believe that is the lesson to be taken from these wonderful female characters… Wait no… From these wonderful CHARACTERS. To be a strong character does not mean everything goes their way 24/7. To be a strong character does not mean only being able to physically fight.To be a strong character does not mean not having to face adversity.Being a strong character means despite those things they still pull through.As someone who tried to watch Kiva I think it depends on what you can handle. Some people may not want to be reminded of these kind of realities (I’m kind of in that boat) and seeing Kiva constantly do that can be irritating and downright depressing.I’m not doubting they are strong female characters but I sometimes wonder if maybe they go through too much for a kids show. Like I feel like Hina from OOO is a better example of balanced pain.The other issue and something I have to wonder is do the men learn a lesson? If they don’t learn anything then it turns the lesson into “That’s the way things are girls so just keep going.” That’s not a good lesson to learn as it would basically be to accept the status quo, don’t try to change or question it, and just be strong. I mean, could you imagine if we apply that lesson to everything? Like if a black person is getting abused from a white person they just need to be strong and move on but not try and change anything?That is a valid point. I mean if Kiva isn’t for you then Kiva isn’t for you. If it is too much that is understandable. I am just saying these woman do come out on top. And as for the men learning… They very much do. As I mentioned that is Nago’s major character arc of turning his views around and Megumi is the one to do it. As for Otoya… Maya puts him into his place as soon as he becomes smitten with her. Yuri puts him in his place constantly. The only person who may have gotten away with their foul treatment of Yuri is Jiro. That was a misstep as a whole and that whole thing shouldn’t have been done. But he does in a sense get better on his own. But overall they are changed and the ones to change and show them the wrongness of their ways are the female characters.I can completely understand being put off by Kiva, because the changes and turnabouts take time. Yuri’s and Megumi’s storylines doesn’t cone into their own until the 30s, and up until then I was literally shaking my first at the screen cursing a lot of the time because they were being treated so shittily.But here is the kicker for me. They were (mostly) being treated unfairly by the MEN in the show. Not by the show. The show shows them being awesome repeatedly, only to be shut down by the world around them. For me, the fact that it ended with them actually becoming Kamen Riders really sealed the deal. Yes, I admit that there are a few missteps (Jirou you ass) and a few things I would not have done (one fridging) and it suffered a bit from the structure (the badass demon hunter in the past couldn’t kill the fangires, because they needed to be alive in the future too). But on the whole, I liked it.And you know what? I would rather have a slightly problematic show that lets women DO things, than something like Gaim, or Blade where they are just not there at all. In Kiva there are women on screen all the time, more women than men a lot of the time! They have many different roles, different personalities and different lives. They get to have actual goals and fears. They get to be beaten down and then pick themselves up again. They get to have storylines that they resolve themselves and not the men. In the movie, yes, the girls gets kidnapped, but they break out on their own, and has to go and save the men that came to try to rescue them and fucked up.Yes, Inoue might not be Kobayashi when it comes to writing women, but he tries! And at least he is interested in having them there as something other than a prop.I also love the way that the Otoya - Yuri dynamic is echoed by Megumi - Nago 22 years later, with the gender roles flipped.Yes, Kiva might have issues, but it gets a way worse rap than it deserves, especially compared to some of the other Kamen Rider shows who are a lot worse in those areas.I think that’s the kicker though. Like I think people don’t mind women who don’t do as much or simply exist as opposed to be treated terribly by the men in their life. When a show is more upfront about it, you the audience have to deal with the issues. If a girl is more passive or existing you can ignore her and not realize some of the issues with the show’s portrayal of women. Still, it makes me wonder why Inoue went that route since Jetman didn’t really do that with their female characters too much. Was he going through something in his real life?And for me it is completely the other way around. I get far more furious about the non-existence of women than I get about them having troublesome arcs. I am so furious about Gaim in that respect it’s not even funny…But that is because I tend to want to face the world with a fist in the face so… that’s me. Also, I’ve never felt physically threatened by a man, which is also a thing. I am not a typical woman in that respect.There has been a lot of speculation about Inoue, because Agito is fine and has the most awesome woman ever in Kamen Rider (Osawa rules) and what he wrote in Ryuki is great, and then came Faiz. It sees that something had happened by then, because that’s just… terrible. Bad breakup? Misunderstandings? Something had clearly changed.Since then I feel like he has been getting better with every show, and Kiva is pretty damn good in my book.I think one thing to remember though is that Japan is an even more conservative country than the US. Especially when it comes to women. Another thing that I think is important to remember in Kiva, is that the women make their own choices for their own reasons. They start romances when they want it. They end it when they want it. They move on with their lives.I wonder if by writing Yuri, Inoue might try to deal with the hypothetical bad breakup of the past. Because seriously, I have not seen a story arc like that in any similar form of japanese media I can think of. That woman is poised as fuck. -- source link